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Teaching Hard History Podcast Episode Helps Educators Discuss History of Race, White Supremacy in Classroom

MONTGOMERY, Ala. –As educators grapple withthe latest attemptsto shift the󾱲ٴǰnarrative about race in classroom lessons, Learning for Justice released a new episodethis weekonٲTeaching Hard History podcastto help continue their important workǴeducating our nation’s children.

The podcast, which catersprimarily toK-12educators,offers teaching advice and history lessons through conversations with scholars and educators. The latest episode features an interview with Dr. Karen L. Cox, author ǴNo Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice,which examines the polarizing debate aroundConfederatemonuments in the wake of George Floyd’s death.Cox is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte,where she offers a variety of courses in southern history and culture.

“I don't teachcritical race theoryI teach history,” Cox said about recent efforts to undermine classroom discussions about America’s history of racial injustice.And if you study history, then you have to understand the significance of race and slavery and segregation.”

During the episode, Cox offers insight to help educators build awareness against false narratives drawnbypublications like Edward Pollard’sTheLost Cause, a revisionist andwhitewashedhistory of the American Civil War that has found its way into classroom textbooks.Instead, Cox suggests educators use primary sources to help tell thetruestory.

When asked whyeducators should take on difficult conversations about race, white supremacy,and related issues that may still be prevalent in theircommunities, Coxoffered: “I think this is a topic that speaks to the diversity of your students and their experiences.And what it may feel like for a young white student is going to be different from how it may feel for a person of color or maybe a new immigrant in the community that may be in your classroom. I think it's also important that we are educating this generation of students to be thoughtful,well-informedcitizens so that, hopefully, they can avoid the pitfalls of false narratives thatgetperpetuated in politics and in popular culture.

The full episode and more from the Teaching Hard History podcast is available . The podcast is also available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.

Learning for Justice, a program of the Southern Poverty Law Center, established the Teaching Hard History podcast after releasing a reportby the same name in 2018thatfound schools werenotadequately educating students about African enslavement as part of America’s history.The research showed that educators want to teach this history but lacked the resources to do it well.Learning for Justice has sinceto include Indigenous enslavement and to reach students in grades K-12.Learning for Justice offers a variety of tools tohelp educators discuss race and other social justice topics at.