Mississippi Placing Civil Rights History in Curriculum

original story posted August 27, 2009

The state of Mississippi has extensive background and brutal history as it pertains to the days of the Civil Rights movement. From bombings to beatings to the Ku Klux Klan, there has been a long rap sheet of occurrences. It is with this that ignited the idea as the state is preparing to test a program that will teach students of the history starting from kindergarten and stretching all the way to high school.

Such a program will immortalize Mississippi, in a sense, as it will be the first state to provide instruction and teachings of the Civil Rights history for students in grades K-12, according to the Education Commission of the States. As of now, the idea has struck the interest of four school systems as they have asked to be

part of the effort. September will see the Mississippi Department of Education naming the systems that will be given approval for the test run of the program.

Backing will be provided by the likes of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation and Washington-based Teaching for Change who are in preparation to begin training teachers in the state to enlighten students of the hidden truth behind the struggle during the Civil Rights movement. As has been known with many schooling systems, the history seems to always be one-sided in the way it is portrayed within the pages of the history books and necessary factors are left out leaving students ignorant to parts of history during their educational upbringing.

The idea came from a law passed in 2006 by the Legislature and there are plans to have it implemented on a statewide level by the 2010-2011 school year. There was actually an effort to eliminate the plan this year, but it was unsuccessful.

The wave has spread somewhat across the nation as Alabama, Georgia and Arkansas have placed emphasis on ensuring that Civil Rights is taught. New Jersey has also played a role as it created an Amistad Commission that makes sure that the history of slavery is brought into the school system. Philadelphia has taken it one step further as it has become a requirement in the school district for students to complete an African-American history course before being considered for graduation.

Growing up, the educational system brought half-truths to hide the scars that America has brought upon its own country and people. All things come to light after a while and although this new program is not meant to create anger and tension between Black and white relations, it is a reminder of what has happened and will finally be able to clear away the fog of exactly what the United States has built itself upon.