The current political trends to ban the teaching of race and racism in public schools, to eliminate Advanced Placement African American Studies classes, and to whitewash U.S. history standards, maintain hegemonic discourses, while simultaneously devaluing the teaching of Black histories and sanitizing the legacy of race and racism in U.S. society. Even more, as politicians continue to enact these harmful policies, Black voices, the people whose histories are being erased, are often omitted from these policy-making decisions. In efforts to amplify Black perspectives, using a three-article format, this dissertation investigates Black students’ and their caregivers’ attitudes toward the teaching of race, racism, and Black histories in high school U.S. history classes. Drawing on findings from this study, as part of this dissertation, I also offer a new pedagogical strategy to social studies educators that could strengthen their teaching on topics that focus on race, racism, and Black histories. Data sources for this study include lesson observations, student photo-interviews and focus group interviews, caregiver interviews, news reports, and researcher memos.
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