Petition to School Boards to Teach Reconstruction

It is essential that the education provided to our youth prepare them to be responsible and informed citizens. Race has been and continues to be one of the most important factors in understanding both the history and current events in the United States. As such, students must be given the opportunity to learn directly about how and why we continue to encounter race-related challenges in our country. Studying Reconstruction is an important step in building this understanding.

Those who don’t know their past are doomed to repeat it.

Removing the past or not including all the facts in the classroom is a detriment to the future, (our children.)

I first learned about the Reconstruction Era from reading "White Rage" by Carol Anderson. This is the truth of our country's racism that should be known by everyone, of the 400 years of racism in this country. The outrageous lies and violence enacted by whites against blacks during the Reconstruction Era reminds me of the acts in our current America. I could go on about the anger and racism that Trump has unleashed and promoted, given permission but the past ills during Reconstruction is currently being espoused by many in the Republican Senate and House and among their supporters. Unleashing the violence from police against blacks through the media has not improved the issue, it seems to have grown in the power that Trump has released or given to racist people. In short, Reconstruction was a terrible, horrific time in US history and the truth of such should be taught in schools. The horror that we are seeing against blacks during this current time in our country is more and more sounding like the horror from the past. It is a very scary time if you are black, as it has been for 400 years before our phones and body cams could capture these horrors.

Especially in this moment in history, so much of what is happening is tied inextricably to the way Reconstruction unfolded. Nearly every triumph and tragedy Black culture celebrates and mourns today can be linked to those precious years after true emancipation. We cannot understand our problems with systemic racism without fully understanding Reconstruction. If we cannot understand fully, we will never heal.

I can not begin to elaborate on the myriad of reasons why it is essential to teach about the Reconstruction era. It is not hyperbole to claim that the Reconstruction era is perhaps the most important and least examined period in American history. As a teacher, I have been lucky that I have the opportunity to examine this era in-depth with my students. The thought of it being skimmed across is disheartening, to say the least.

A proper education regarding the Reconstruction era is critical for Americans to have a proper grounding in our history and to understand so many of the historical trends of the 20th century, leading through the present day. Neglecting the Reconstruction era in our education is a disservice to democracy itself.

This is a crucial era in history that has been glossed over and partially omitted in many ways. Teaching it and helping students to understand it could very well prevent our future students from making the same mistakes in society that their forefathers did. Reconstruction happened. It is documented. It is history. It should be taught and must be taught. To deny children an education and understanding of this material is to do them a great disservice as well as an injustice.

Reconstruction is pivotal in understanding contemporary attitudes that relate to Black grassroots level movements alongside the legislation practices and laws that limit voting rights, access to social programs, and school.

It is not just a vital period of history in its own right, but we so many of the issue raised during it repeating themselves today, such as the resurgence of white supremacy.

Reconstruction is typically glossed over in history classes. It is crucial to understanding our current society. There is no way students will understand what's going on today if they don't know where it came from.

Reconstruction's history says more about how the United States got here today than perhaps any other time period in its history. It shows us racism and capitalism must be smashed if we want to solve these problems.