So here it is – Black History Month! Schoolchildren all over the country will spend a few days learning about Martin Luther King, Jr., learning who invented the cotton gin, and even learning how to sing an old negro spiritual (no, not an Al Green tune!). If you can’t feel the sarcasm dripping from my keyboard, take my word for it – it is.
Look, I get it. Recognizing the achievements and contributions of African Americans is a worthy exercise. Particularly given the ahistorical nature of contemporary American society.
However, the way it is taught in schools is rather superficial...and is indicative of larger trends we are seeing in public understandings of race, as well as in recent scholarship.
Three new studies indicate that class, not race, is quickly becoming the defining factor in determining life chances.
Read entire FrameWorks Blog [3].
Links:
[1] http://luskin.ucla.edu/home
[2] http://luskin.ucla.edu/school-public-affairs
[3] http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/blogs/alumni/