Teaching What Really Happened

 “Reconstruction was that time, right after the Civil War, when African Americans took over the governing of the Southern states, including Mississippi, but they were too soon out of slavery, so they messed up, and reigned corruptly, and whites had to take back control of the state governments.” 

In one of the readings, the teacher asked her students “What was Reconstruction?” When I read the response from the student, just like the teacher I was shocked. Especially when the student said, “whites had to take back control of the state governments.”

This response tells me that based on what the students have learned, this is what they believe now. They see the whites as having power and the ability to control. Why couldn’t the student think that an African American can be in control? The reason is because teachers are teaching to the book and telling the students what the textbook says. They are feeding students the white washed stories. This needs to be changed.