Topline
Only 23% of Black adults in the U.S. who are familiar with Black history in the U.S. said K-12 school was where they learned some or all of this information, according to a poll from Pew Research Center published Friday, shedding light on how much focus is given to Black history in U.S. schools.
A case displaying books for Black history month at the Elmont Memorial Library in Elmont, New York, … [+]
Key Facts
The poll found that 43% of Black adults learned some or all of what they know about Black history from their family or friends, compared to 30% who learned it from the media, 27% who learned it from the internet, 24% who learned it from college or university and 23% who learned it from k-12 schooling.
Young Black adults were more likely than Black older adults to get all or most of this information from K-12 education: 31% of respondents under 30 and 25% of respondents ages 30 to 45 said they learned Black history in school, compared to just 20% of of respondents ages 50 to 64 and 17% of respondents 65 and older.
Just 16% of Black adults said they were extremely informed about Black history in the U.S., compared to 34% who said they were very informed, 37% who said they were somewhat informed, 9% who said they were a little informed and 2% who said they were not at all informed.
Pew conducted the poll through an online survey from over 6,500 respondents in October of last year.
Key Background
The poll comes two years after the height of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests that left some activists rallying for the expansion of the way Black history is taught in U.S. schools. That year, Oklahoma made it mandatory for schools in the state to teach about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, in which a white mob killed hundreds of Black people and destroyed what was known as Black Wall Street. Last year, President Biden made Junteenth a national holiday, commemorating the anniversary of when the country’s last slaves were freed in 1865. Despite some incremental expansions, there has also been growing pushback, with many states creating laws to limit how much of Black history can be taught or what analysis, and links to systematic racism, can be provided alongside it. The controversy has developed into a debate over Critical Race Theory, and whether or not schools can teach it.
Further Reading
For Black Americans, family and friends are a primary source of information on U.S. Black history (Pew Research Center)
New rules are limiting how teachers can teach Black History Month (Axios)
Mississippi’s Black Senators Stage Walkout Over Bill Banning Critical Race Theory (Forbes)
Trump Says Critical Race Theory Borders On ‘Psychological Abuse’ (Forbes)
DeSantis Unveils ‘Stop W.O.K.E. Act’ So Parents Can Sue Over Critical Race Theory In Schools (Forbes)
Report: Texas School District Says Teachers Need To Offer ‘Opposing’ Perspectives On Holocaust Due To New Critical Race Theory Law (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/02/11/most-black-americans-learn-history-from-family-and-friends-not-school-poll-finds/