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JPAnalyst OP t1_j9f1xfi wrote

Reply to comment by ThePandaRider in [OC] I asked Georgians (U.S.) if they learned in school about the 1912 racial cleansing in Forsyth County (GA), only 11% of respondents were taught this. by JPAnalyst

It’s specific enough to not be remembered for a student in Oregon or Connecticut to not be taught. In Georgia it’s a very significant part of the local history.

It was highlighted on a national scale as well in the mid 80’s when Oprah came to Forsyth and ran an episode about the history of Forsyth county.

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ThePandaRider t1_j9f4rz7 wrote

History gets glossed over constantly. I grew up in Massachusetts and we have a ton of history that wasn't covered at the state or county level. I always thought it was because the textbooks were not written by the state and the curriculum had a lot of American history that was focused at the federal level instead of state specific events.

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excitato t1_j9f52re wrote

Do students in Oregon get taught that their state was founded with the law that Black people were banned from moving to the state?

The reality is that things like expulsions of Black people and sundown towns were indeed so common that it’s probably better for every US student to learn generally how thorough and widespread the discrimination was, rather than just single incidents.

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JPAnalyst OP t1_j9f7xh0 wrote

>Do students in Oregon get taught that their state was founded with the law that Black people were banned from moving to the state?

I haven’t asked them. But if anyone wants to take on the project I’d love to know. I did tabulate responses when someone asked students in Oklahoma about Tulsa. I’ll dig that up and post it in this thread.

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Bazzzookah t1_j9fb2o5 wrote

I agree and I would add that deep dives into local history makes the teaching experience all the more relevant to the kids. For instance, it would make sense that all North Carolina kids be familiar with what happened in Wilmington in 1898, while for Alaskans a less detailed overview should suffice.

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JPAnalyst OP t1_j9fobj7 wrote

Yeah. For sure. These are huge local events in history. The expectation isn’t that everyone should be taught this, but people who reside in each state should be taught some of the biggest events, that shape the history of that state.

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ReporterOther2179 t1_j9isx42 wrote

Education should not be confined to school hours, or end when formal schooling ends. School history will inevitably be selective, there’s not enough time. Even a lifetime is not enough time. An overall shallow knowledge and the occasional detailed study of a few topics will have to suffice because there’s not enough time.

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wrp1 t1_j9i7h30 wrote

I think you’re waaaay over rating how much our education system can get into kids heads, and over rating the importance of this incident in the whole history of Georgia.

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