Sleeter argues that schools today in the U.S. do not offer students opportunities to explore different cultures other than Euro-centric American history. In a majority of textbooks, the history of America is told through people such as the founding fathers and other white historical figures. Not a lot of room is added for other cultures within the United States, such as Native American, Latin, African or Asian cultures. Many of these cultures and the people from them played big roles in the founding and development of America and they are not talked about nearly as much as other White figures. As a result of this, many students who have different backgrounds other than European find it difficult to relate to these figures in class, and are often left wondering how their culture played a role in American history. When they reach high school, many students become aware of the bias towards European and White American history and can become disinterested with what they are learning.
After our class on 2/13, the ideas of Sleeter’s writing became more apparent to me. The film Precious Knowledge gave me great insight on how classes in Ethnic studies could be a great solution to the problem Sleeter discusses. In my own experience, my textbooks in k-12 did have a predominately Euro-centric theme, with books occasionally mentioning people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, but certainly not more than other white figures. We had a European history class in high school, but no other options other than U.S history. As a predominately white school, I never saw anyone be upset with what the classes offered and I thought most people in my school were represented in class. One question I would have for class would be if anyone had a different experience in school, especially if the school was diverse.
great post! :)
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