The New Jim Crow
Professor Young
February 9, 2017
The Civil War: What My Schools Didn't Teach Me
Throughout my years attending different schools, my history classes differed from one another in terms of the course material. In 1st grade, while attending a public school close to home, my teacher Mrs. Miller-Hamm always taught our class about slavery and the contributions African Americans made to the United States that weren't displayed in our history books. She was the first teacher to inform her students about the brutality and oppression African Americans suffered at the hands of White Americans. The only information that she shared with us about The Civil War was that the North and South were mainly fighting about money. Within that era, she also taught us about the Underground Railroad and other mechanisms that slaves used to escape their slave masters. When I transitioned into Middle School, at a private school, my history teacher Mr. Taylor taught his classes about both slavery and the mistreatment of other minority groups. Our classes with him always differed from one week to the next but, there always seemed to be a common thread of enslavement that connected each minority group to one another. His class also consisted of discussing the Holocaust, the Soviet Union, the spread of communism, genocides, and child soldiers in Africa. In regards to the Civil War, he taught us about Abraham Lincoln's thoughts towards African Americans and why the Emancipation Proclamation was constructed. Within my years of Middle School, Mr. Taylor's class really encouraged both my classmates and I to educate ourselves about enslavement around the world. Transitioning into high school, spending my freshman year at an all-girls private catholic school, my history teacher told us that The Civil War was fought over the freedom of slaves from the Southern states and that Abraham Lincoln "saved" African Americans from the continued mistreatment they endured from slave owners. Due to both the tuition increase and racist encounters within the school, I transferred to a public performing arts school close to my home where I graduated from. During my History, Sociology and English classes, my teachers were always discussing the hidden agendas of government officials towards minority groups. We often discussed the creation of the Ku Klux Klan, the original movie Birth Of The Nation, the Black Panthers, and the Civil Rights Movement. We briefly talked about the North's tariffs against the South to regain financial dominance within the United States and the political pollution within the South during the Civil War era. While currently in college, this class has revealed a lot of information that I was not aware of. My schools never explained in-depth about convict leasing, slave patrols, the relationship between law enforcement and government officials, and how some African American leaders were in favor of segregation. While reading Slavery by Another Name and additional packets, I'm discovering more hidden information about African Americans that need to be featured and taught in other schools' curriculums.
