Multiculturalism: Who Says What Is Important?

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Multiculturalism: Who Says What is Important? As a junior in high school, a close friend and I sat in our history class wondering where all the diversity was throughout history. As the school year passed by, Black History Month came about, revealing where the rest of the history had gone. It was saved to seemingly be crammed into the shortest month, also the only month which is modifiable every four years. As the school day ended one Friday in February, we arrived at church the following Sunday only to be questioned of our knowledge. Sitting next to Parm, our pastor asked us a few questions because we were the oldest two children of the choir. “Who is Martin Luther King, Jr.?” We could answer that question without hesitation. “Who is Rosa Parks?” We could also answer that question easily. “Who is Shirley Chisholm?” We hesitated, but answered correctly. “Who is Mary McLeod Bethune?” We did not hesitate to keep quiet. “Medgar Evers, Dick Gregory, Emmett Till, A. Phillip Randolph, Thurgood Marshall, Augusta Savage, Mahalia Jackson, Josephine Baker?” We were embarrassed and ashamed. We knew none of the names he listed but a few: the famously beaten Emmett Till, and the beautiful voices projected from Mahalia Jackson and Josephine Baker. Parm and I made eye contact, with a mutual thought that something had to be done. With a feeling of harsh embarrassment, walking through the hallways of our high school, knowing none of the history that molded the African American culture of today, we began to question the curriculum in which we were required to fulfill. It seemed as though African American history was important only if it aided the learning of U.S. History pertaining to Caucasian Americans. Knowing a vast amount of Caucasian history in the U.S., as well as in World Civilizations, those with African descent seemed to be shunned. High school students have

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