Literature Review:

Many researchers have looked at the effects of race on our education system in addition there are researchers that have looked at the way that race has impacted the content placed in United States history textbooks. Each researcher offered a new perspective and tapped into different racial identities. They explained at length how these racial minorities have been misrepresented throughout history. The researchers’ work that I analyzed will be able to support my findings from my research question in a multitude of ways. This aims to look at the ways that the content in textbooks has changed when speaking about racial minorities because of monumental historical events such as the Civil Rights Movement. They show that the change that has occurred over time when speaking about race in both education and textbooks alike has been crucial but must continue into the future. Each gives sufficient background information that is necessary to fully understand my topic. I split the research I found into three different themes/categories; Racial Identity in Education, African American Identity in History Textbooks, and Ethnic Minority Portrayals in History Textbooks. 

Racial Identity in Education 

The idea of race in relation to education helps to create background information for my topic. In the education system race isn’t something that is always openly spoken about. Although there are many different race stereotypes that students and teachers alike unconsciously embed into the curriculum. Many scholars look at how students come into the school system with stereotypes and misconceptions of race already in their heads.  James Banks (2006) believes that race and diversity should be spoken about in order to create a positive narrative for students. The education systems curriculum doesn’t focus on racial identity and how that should be taught to young children in a positive manner. When these students are entering higher education they know very little if anything about racial identity. In textbooks, major figures that have affected history are spoken about in-depth. Although one study says, “While thirty-two White individuals are on the list, only seven African Americans and four Latinos receive this designation” (Vasquez Heilig et al. 2005). This shows that there is a focus on white identities throughout our history with an absence of other racial identities included. Adrienne D. Dixson and Celia K. Rousseau (2005) bring in the idea of critical race theory which they describe as, “‘recognition of the experiential knowledge of people of color’” (10). Both authors believe that giving people of color a voice is extremely important in order for others to acknowledge their experiences of discrimination and racism. It can be said that critical race theory, “seeks to reduce marginalization through the recognition and promotion of historically disenfranchised peoples, American history teachers can redress stereotyping and enhance plurality in their classroom” (Litner 27). Overall, these academic scholars help to lay the groundwork that gives researchers and society a better understanding of the relationship between race and education. 

African American Identity in History Textbooks

The Civil Rights Movement played a huge role in the history of the United States. The leader Martin Luther King Jr. helped to secure equal freedoms and rights for African Americans after years of slavery. Derrick P. Alridge (2006) mentions that when spoken about, MLK Jr. was depicted as a very one-dimensional character which doesn’t give students a full understanding of how impactful he really was. Between the years 1990 and 1992 slavery was seen as a way to boost markets (Wasburn 1997). In a way, people looked at it as a commodity that can be sold and bought, which would help the financial economy. Multiple other scholars speak about African Americans’ identity and how it is spoken about across higher education, specifically in high schools and colleges across northern America. The events that African Americans went through can be mentioned in one reading which can make people think that these are isolated incidents, but they aren’t and there need to be more readings that show that (Brown and Brown 2010). There are so many events that deal with African Americans that are omitted altogether. Similarly, through content analysis, other authors found that black women in history textbooks were marginalized (Woyshner and Schocker 2015). These are women that helped change the course of history and they are rarely spoken about. The African American identity plays a large role in United States history and needs to be spoken about more in the future. 

Ethnic Minority Portrayals in History Textbooks

When speaking about race, many people jump right to African Americans. Although, there are so many other races that have also played a prominent role in the United States history and need to be spoken about more. Many textbooks are embedded with Protestant beliefs which shape how ethnicities are portrayed (Foster 1999). It is important that all racial groups are accounted for within textbooks. Scholars state that “the scientific argument on ‘the myth of race’ from the 1940s and 1950s to the human genome project of the 1990s, demonstrates that the consensus within the scientific community is that ‘race’, like the concept of ghosts, is an empty concept” (Fuchs and Boch 2018: 227). Due to the Civil Rights Movement, minorities’ portrayals in textbooks rose and were seen to be more implemented into the curriculum being taught (Garcia 1993). Which emphasizes the fact that when Americans think about race they think about African Americans as an isolated minority. Other scholars say that “Black people are discussed using terms with lower levels of agency and power than other groups” (Lucy et al 2020). In addition, the authors noticed that Latinx people were rarely spoken about in the contents of the textbooks (Lucy et al. 2020). Masato Ogawa (2004), Yonghee Suh, Sohyun An, and Danielle Forest (2015), and  Okiyoshi Takeda (2015) each look at the way that Asian-Americans are spoken about in history textbooks. Ogawa (2004) mentions how Japanese Internment camps are never really spoken about in American society because not many Americans believe that our society would do something like that. Likewise, Lawrence D. Reddick (1934) uses the example of World War II and how it is omitted that Japanese-Americans faced the idea of internment camps. Also, Native Americans and their racial identity in American society and the idea of tribal critical race theory (Padgett 2018). Minority groups are rarely represented in textbooks and how they are made to seem worthless and almost invisible (Wolf 1992). All in all, minority groups are crucial to the history of the United States and aren’t presented in school curricula or textbooks nearly enough. 

Each of the researchers’ work analyzed brought a new perspective to a topic that is rarely spoken about in today’s society. Race and the United States education system have evolved and changed throughout the years and will continue to in the future. United States history textbooks help to lay the groundwork for that change. When students do not learn about race and everything that has happened they do not have the information that would aid them in stopping it from happening again. Although when racial minorities are spoken about in textbooks students are provided with racial stereotypes which are not true. The way that minority racial identities are spoken about and presented throughout my research will help to support the finding of my study. This is looking at how race is presented in United States high school history textbooks between the years 1950 and 2020, which is prior to and following the Civil Rights Movement. The research was split into the categories/themes of Racial Identity in Education, African American Identity in History Textbooks, and Ethnic Minority Portrayals in History Textbooks. This helps to show the necessary historical background information that will continue to evolve the idea of race in high school history textbooks.

Theory:

The New Jim Crow has become a widely known thesis across the country. Michelle Alexander (2010) looks at the way in which African Americans are placed in the prison system and continue to be discriminated against within the United States. She describes mass incarceration as, “a set of structural arrangements that locks a racially distinct group into a subordinate political, social, and economic position, effectively creating a second-class citizenship” (Alexander 2010:180). She believes that this new system was put into place during the height of the Civil Rights Movement (Alexander 2010). This goes to show that there are still unequal rights and freedoms that remain in modern-day society. That is being taught through the content presented in United States high school history textbooks. She shows how laws were put into place in order to repress minority racial groups by white elites within society (Alexander 2010). These are the same white elites that write these textbooks that omit minority racial identities. This proves that society has control over the way that minority groups are viewed and treated. 

Omi and Winant (2015) also present a theory that is extremely important to race and how it has worked to shape a number of factors within the United States. Specifically how race is spoken about and viewed around the world. The authors mention that within society,  “Groups continually contest the existing system of race classification” (Omi and Winant 2015:123). Although no one can define what an American looks like, somehow society still does. So in essence no one can define how others view themselves. What is taught through the contents of history textbooks is carried throughout a student’s life. Omi and Winant also speak about race in terms of politics and war within the United States. They specifically mention Gramsci’s approach which believes that the United States racial system is unstable (Omi and Winant 2015). Stuart Hall (1986) also speaks about Gramsci and how historical movements helped to highlight both the challenges and development of both political and social characteristics of the United States (14). Historical movements also affect the way society views race and continue to speak about it throughout history. Similarly, Paul Gilroy (1998) looks at race is spoken about and how racial differences are looked at in society. Such as historical movements mentioned in my project Christopher Columbus coming to the new world, slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, the Trail of Teats/Indian Removal Act, and Japanese-American internment camps during World War II. He adds that “students of ‘race’ have not always been sufficiently alive to the ethical dimensions of our own practice, particularly when faced with the relationship between raciology and evil” (Gilroy 1998:839). Many students don’t know the history of race and do not want to repeat it. Although there are certain events that are left out of what students learn. The way in which race is viewed and spoken about in the United States has changed and developed throughout history in both positive and negative ways.