Adolescents' Perspectives on Racial Diversity in U.S. History: Case Studies From an Urban Classroom

Abstract

Scholars interested in reforming the K-12 history curriculum have presented competing perspectives on incorporating the historical experiences of racial groups into traditional narratives of U.S. history. None of the perspectives, however, have been informed by research on young people's interpretations of race relations in national history. Framed by three academic perspectives on teaching U.S. history in public schools, I analyzed the historical narratives of 10 adolescents who completed the same 11th-grade history class. The analysis demonstrated that the adolescents' racialized identities significantly influenced their concepts of the historical experiences of racial groups, the role of government in shaping these experiences, and the existence or lack of a common national history or identity. Some of the adolescents also had difficulties explaining how themes associated with expanding democracy and racial inequality simultaneously structured their narratives of the nation's past. Using the adolescents' historical perspectives as a lens to evaluate the efficacy of the academic perspectives, I suggest ways to negotiate the differences among and difficulties within the adolescents' perspectives on racial diversity in U.S. history.