cjshoe asked:
You’re very welcome.
I am not a person of color either, but as an American, I feel that our national dialogue and levels of respect we hold for our fellow humans would be much greater if we could learn not to paint each other with a broad brush, own up to our respective privileges, and accept responsibility for our actions as both individuals and members of society. And understanding less than positive aspects of our national history is a huge part of that.
This aspect of history has been studied very deeply; the problem is that, because of how k-12 curricula are structured, and because of the influence of standardized testing said curricula, that side of history is deemed far less important than the memorization of the accomplishments of political actors. This means that people who do not study Early American History (or something similar) at the collegiate and/or post-graduate level will really never encounter these truths unless huge strides are made in education reform. It’s really incredibly sad.
