Did you know that during the 1870s there was a little town in Michigan where white and black people lived together peacefully? Don’t feel too bad if you didn’t. Most schools don’t teach their students about Covert, Mich. The question is: Why not?
For far too many American schoolchildren, the only black stories they hear are ones of oppression and victimization. The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project asks students to write poetry about the black men and women lynched in the state. The group says it is working “to advance reconciliation . . . by documenting the history of racial terror lynchings.” Lynching, which victimized whites as well as blacks, is an important part of American history that shouldn’t be ignored. But should it be a primary lens through which we understand our racial history?
Opinion | The Town That Desegregated in the 1870s
Did you know that during the 1870s there was a little town in Michigan where white and black people lived together peacefully? Don’t feel too bad if you didn’t. Most schools don’t teach their students about Covert, Mich. The question is: Why not?
For far too many American schoolchildren, the only black stories they hear are ones of oppression and victimization. The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project asks students to write poetry about the black men and women lynched in the state. The group says it is working “to advance reconciliation . . . by documenting the history of racial terror lynchings.” Lynching, which victimized whites as well as blacks, is an important part of American history that shouldn’t be ignored. But should it be a primary lens through which we understand our racial history?