Over the past year, North Carolina—like many other states—has faced the heated issue of how to teach U.S. history. Some policymakers have sought to highlight racism throughout history, while many others have pushed back, saying it is un-American to do so.
The North Carolina Board of Education voted seven to five Feb. 4 for new standards in the history curriculum, hoping to ensure teaching of a more comprehensive and honest history of the United States. The new changes require teachers to cover specific topics like slavery and the civil rights movement with use of primary resources to illustrate different viewpoints.
The curriculum changes reflect how North Carolina is addressing the controversy on Critical Race Theory, by creating its own standards.Unlike other states, N.C. created their own standards, rather than using research projects like the 1619 Project as a base for their curriculums.
Since the State Board of Education is split politically, with different ideas of what should be emphasized in the new curriculum, it took two years to decide on a single standard. Ultimately, they settled on HB711, which says students should learn about how people have demonstrated resistance to inequalities and prejudice, and how historical narratives depict different racial groups, women and others.
However, even prior to the legislation passed in February, the East’s history department had already been trying to achieve the goal of teaching history from multiple points of view.
“We always try to look at history from as many [perspectives] as possible,” said history teacher Ed Baruch. ”I support the new curriculum because it ensures that all students will get these diverse perspectives from groups that are different from their own.”
History teacher Sam Atwood echoed the idea
“I always try to connect the problems with race and gender in history to today,” Atwood said. “When these issues and problems are connected to my students’ daily lives, it makes these problems more relatable.”
One of the key impacts of the legislation regards the American History curriculum. Previously, the course was divided over two years, American History I and American History II, but now it is compiled into one class.
“There are both positives and negatives to [American History] being in one year,” Atwood said. “A benefit is that students won’t forget everything they learned in American History before they move on to History II. A negative is that we as teachers don’t have the time to go as in-depth in certain subjects.”
Baruch similarly supports the change to a single-year American History class.
“Students learn world history in a year and that is several millennia. Students can learn a couple of centuries of American history at the same time,” he said. “Students will also have learned pieces of American history before, in Civics and eighth grade.”
The current curriculum also specifically states what historical events teachers must cover, like the Trail of Tears and the Wilmington Race Riots. This emphasis was added because in the past, state legislation was vague regarding the topics and events that must be taught, and as a result, some teachers exploited this loophole to avoid addressing events that impacted minorities, and historical periods like Reconstruction, the civil rights movement and slavery.
While the legislation will expand the history taught in East classrooms, it might also limit teachers’ autonomy in creating their own lesson plans, according to Atwood.
“In past years, history teachers have had a lot of flexibility in what they teach, but with this legislation, we have less,” Atwood said.
An example of state requirements and teacher preferences coming into conflict is the exact start of when American history should begin. While the state curriculum notes that American History starts in 1763—more than 140 years after the first Africans arrived at Jamestown and completely disregards Native American history—many teachers provide instruction about earlier Native American societies.
Despite the recent legislation, North Carolina’s history curriculum is still a highly contested topic and will continue to divide lawmakers as long as North Carolina remains a politically contested state.
“The history curriculum still cuts out a lot of crimes committed against Native Americans, it’s a very European centric place to start,” Atwood said. “The legislation is an improvement but still has a long way to go.”
Photo by Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford
