#educationweek

How do you teach Black history at a time when the very mention of race in K-12 classrooms is considered by some states to be political, controversial, and divisive? Transparency and a focus on inquiry are key, said Rodney D. Pierce, an eighth grade social studies teacher at Red Oak Middle School in Nash County Public Schools in Nashville, N.C.

Pierce is one of the panelists for the Black History Month Kickoff Instagram Live event for the evening of Feb. 1, led by the Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED). Based in North Carolina, the group focuses on closing opportunity gaps for all children in P-20 education, especially children of color. The Instagram panel addresses how to teach Black history today. It’s one of CREED’s #TeachingInColor social media events, which is part of their Represent! Campaign focusing on ensuring students of color are well-represented in educational settings in North Carolina and beyond.

Ahead of the panel, Pierce spoke with Education Week to offer some best practices and explain why Black history is important to teach and discuss year-round.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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The biggest challenge right now, I would think, is that the teaching of African American history in particular, in terms of our sojourn in the Americas, or in the United States, has been turned into a political minefield.

And now you have to navigate carefully what you say in the classroom in terms of what you teach. Whereas in the past you weren’t concerned about that. And it wasn’t that you were doing anything wrong in the past. It’s just this is what you teach, and this is how you teach, and now all of a sudden it’s making people uncomfortable. It’s making kids uncomfortable. But you weren’t uncomfortable a few years ago. Now, all of a sudden, because it’s politically convenient and it’s politically advantageous, now it makes you uncomfortable, or you don’t want your children to be taught it. Black children are taught about the history of other groups of people all year long, but you never asked them if they were uncomfortable learning this stuff. You never asked them how their parents felt. Now you want to go to school board meetings and raise hell and threaten people over this kind of stuff along with mask mandates.

So those are the challenges that are facing Black teachers particularly or any teacher who wants to teach a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive version of our history here in America.

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Letting your administrators know what you’re going to be talking about, having your lesson plans with the resources that you’re going to be using in your classroom.

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I’m going to show you the speech of Rebecca Felton, the first female U.S. senator, even though she served only a day, talking about lynching Black men. We’re going to use that kind of stuff to paint the picture, let you know this is how these people felt, this is what they say, these are their actual words. This is not me preaching to you or trying to tell you these people were bad people. You determine whether they’re bad people. You figure that out for yourself.

Celebrate the small victories? I was selected for the EducationWeek Top 200 Education Scholars in the US list for the 8th year in a row this year. So a super quick celebration!! and now on to the week. Thanks for being here with me doing the work for children.