Search

When I was in fifth grade and new to suburbia, my teacher introduced the concepts of racism, civil rights and fairness. And she began the task of helping 10-years olds—all of us white—learn how to talk about race in constructive ways. I’d moved from a gritty urban neighborhood where whites, blacks and Puerto Ricans lived together rather warily. My parents maintained a chilly silence on the issue of race, although they forbade racial epithets; on the street I heard plenty. In this place, the black kids came mostly from the projects, the Puerto Ricans lived in apartments and the better-off among the white families might have an entire house. I knew that race divided.

Now, more than ever, the teaching of Reconstruction needs to be a central component of history education in high school.

A recent Cheerios commercial reminds us of the historical roots of race in the United States. Those roots still cause social and political upset.

Start a conversation about sexual harassment and assault—or respond effectively when your students do—with these resources from the TT archives.