We can teach young people the honest history of the United States in age-appropriate ways and help them understand commonalities across cultures to develop a strong sense of self and identity as they honor diversity. To support these conversations and learning experiences, we offer parents, caregivers and educators teaching strategies, talking points and activities.
The latest issue of Learning for Justice magazine focuses on the South in the fight for democracy and justice. That entails acknowledging those at the center of an unjust system, whose very survival served as a form of resistance. In these new stories, Amber N. Mitchell details the ways in which the Whitney Plantation experiential learning tour sheds light on the lives of the people whose enslavement generated great wealth for their captors, and Lolita Bolden celebrates her Southern roots in both prose and poetry.
The accurate history of American slavery should be taught to children in age-appropriate and honest ways that develop critical thinking, while recognizing that Black history is U.S. history and goes beyond slavery. These LFJ publications—including Teaching Hard History: American Slavery, a K-12 curriculum framework—reinforce the importance of teaching this history honestly and provide resources for educators and parents.