Teaching the “I Have a Dream” speech, Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a bus, and how George Washington Carver became known as “the Peanut Man” remain common Black History Month lessons in American schools — when Black history is acknowledged or taught at all.
This year, however, the annual observance arrives at a moment when students are watching civil rights — including their own — debated, challenged and, in some cases, curtailed in real time.
That context has raised renewed questions about how Black history is taught and whether students are given the tools to understand how past struggles over rights, citizenship and power connect to the present. For many educators, that requires more than familiar lessons or surface-level narratives.
Organizations that focus on history education have expanded collections of classroom materials aimed at providing that broader context. Among them is the Zinn Education Project, a nonprofit that curates free teaching resources focused on social movements, labor history and civil rights. Its website includes hundreds of lesson plans addressing the African American experience, from Reconstruction through the civil rights movement and beyond, along with optional virtual workshops and study groups for educators.
Here are several approaches educators are using to deepen Black history instruction.
Teaching the origins of Black History Month
Harvard historian Jarvis Givens traces the development of Black History Month in his book, “I’ll Make Me a World: The 100-Year Journey of Black History Month.” The book examines how the observance grew from Carter G. Woodson’s 1926 “Negro History Week” into a national tradition, highlighting the role of educators, activists and community members who pushed for broader recognition of Black history.
Examining Dr. King’s work beyond the South
Public memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often centers on his leadership in the South. Historians have documented, however, that King also confronted housing discrimination, police brutality and economic inequality in northern cities, including Boston, Chicago and New York.
Jeanne Theoharis explores that history in “King of the North: Martin Luther King’s Freedom Struggle Outside of the South,” which focuses on King’s campaigns outside the region most commonly associated with his work.
Encouraging critical examination of the Constitution
In a period marked by debates over press freedom, immigration enforcement and the role of public institutions, some educators are asking students to examine what the Constitution does — and does not — guarantee.
Classroom discussions often include questions about why the document originally excluded large segments of the population, why it took a Civil War to abolish slavery, and how the 13th Amendment continues to permit forced labor as punishment for a crime.
Participating in educator study groups
Professional development opportunities tied to Black history instruction have also expanded. This summer, the Zinn Education Project is offering a free virtual study group for pre-K through 12th-grade teachers focused on teaching about race, systemic inequality and resistance. Participation requires attendance at several scheduled sessions and completion of an evaluation.
Teaching the history of access to education
For much of U.S. history, educating Black Americans was illegal, restricted or met with punishment. Historians and educators note a recurring pattern in which periods of expanded educational access were followed by legal and political backlash.
A lesson by educator Jesse Hagopian examines laws that limited access to learning and connects those policies to ongoing debates about curriculum and educational equity.
“This lesson reveals a pattern: When Black people make significant educational gains — or score victories in their broader struggles for freedom — there is a corresponding white supremacist backlash that often includes legal restrictions and violence,” Hagopian wrote.
This story originally appeared here.