Explain to me how 98% of U.S. 12th graders could miss this question??

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Churchill didn't really exist.

 

Laura

 

Seriously?

 

Has he been demoted to a character in Dr. Who?

 

I'm appalled.

 

Of course I am also appalled by the Brown v Board of Education question but less so after I saw the actual question. The problem is that I assume this material was supposed to be covered during the year.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I simply cannot fathom the idea that highschool seniors are not familiar with our country's history of racism and segregation. Surely, they did cover the Civil War and the role slavery played in it. Surely, they have at least seen some popular movies addressing these issues, I.e. Malcolm X, Remember the Titans. Goodness, current cultural debates still rage on the role of affirmative action in education and employment. For heaven's sake, they have Martin Luther King Day off of school each year! I understand a student not knowing the particular case in question, but not to understand our country's history of segragation is ridiculous. A basic knowledge of this, along with the text given, seems very sufficient for more than 2% of students to answer correctly.

 

I think that ps does a great job of making the history of civil rights both omnipresent and trivial (which is no mean feat).

 

If you're ever in DC there is a great presentation at the Woolworth counter by an actor who does non-violent sit in training for potential protesters. It is very well done.

[Halcyon]

I'm the camp of those that feel it may have something to do with never even really getting to this area of history. I'm among those that in my 4 years of high school never once made it past WWII. Everything I learned about the Vietnam Conflict was what my dad who was drafted into it told me about it. I know next to nothing about The Korean War, the Cold War Era, etc. other than what I've picked up through watching shows on it or movies and that all happened in my adulthood.

 

 

:iagree: ANd I am busy trying to rectify that with some solid self-education. I went to a fancy private school with an excellent academic reputation and we never covered modern history.

[Halcyon]

Of course it does, but who knows that anymore?

 

 

I studied key Supreme Court cases in 12th grade (American government) including Plessy v Ferguson, Miranda, Roe v Wade, Korematsu v US, Bakke, Griswold v Connecticut, Loving v Virginia, the one to do with the Amish's exemption from high school, and yes Brown v Board. Granted, I probably got more excited about the cases than was required by the course, but I definitely studied them in class. I think this is an important part of learning US history! But then I recently read something that showed what a tentative grasp Americans have of even understanding separation of powers. Most people believed the president has all sorts of powers that don't go with the office, and I read a survey (of adults) to do with the 1st Amendment, and most people thought religious freedom was quite a bit narrower than written, and was designed to protect the majority group, not minorities.

 

I personally was very disturbed to see with my own eyes that for most children, Black History Month was about doing reports on one person: Martin Luther King. A distant second was Rosa Parks and then came (a bit to my surprise that there was so much interest) Ruby Bridges (maybe those kids know about Brown v Board!). Honest, no child ever wanted to read a book about anyone else! Children absolutely should know about those three people, but they should also know about others! The African American experience is vastly more diverse. Notice that all of these three are from the same time period! Where is George Washington Carver? Harriet Tubman? Langston Hughes? Barbara Jordan? Thurgood Marshall? Phyllis Wheatley? Gone. It's all become this flatland where only Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks (and maybe dear little Ruby Bridges) matter. It's sort of like learning history from cartoons or something.

 

Excellent post, stripe. I agree, strongly, especially with the bolded.

[Halcyon]

How sad! I posed the question to my 7 year-old and asked him to think about the time period and which people they used to keep separate. He said, "Black and white?" Totally sad that a 2nd grader can figure it out just based on the context and a 12th grader can't.

 

 

I read the question to my 5 year old before posting the OP this morning, and he said "that's when the blacks and whites were separated,right?"

[Halcyon]

I'm currently reading a book by Howard Zinn. Talk about an eye opener. There really seems to be so much more than what we are taught. And everything we are taught is through rose colored glasses. It doesn't do justice to the history and to the average person. It feels more like we are being brainwashed into believing a very specific and narrow view. And I just don't know why that would be except perhaps well informed people ask too many questions. I feel like I woke up from the coma of stupidity I was in.

 

 

If you're reading People's History of the United States, be aware there is also a kid's version which is great. I am reading it to my kids now (Young People's History......)

[Halcyon]

Thank you Stripe and Perry for digging that stuff up. Clarifies a lot. At least many kids had HEARD of the decision.

[JennyD]

Of course it does, but who knows that anymore?

 

 

I studied key Supreme Court cases in 12th grade (American government) including Plessy v Ferguson, Miranda, Roe v Wade, Korematsu v US, Bakke, Griswold v Connecticut, Loving v Virginia, the one to do with the Amish's exemption from high school, and yes Brown v Board. Granted, I probably got more excited about the cases than was required by the course, but I definitely studied them in class. I think this is an important part of learning US history! But then I recently read something that showed what a tentative grasp Americans have of even understanding separation of powers. Most people believed the president has all sorts of powers that don't go with the office, and I read a survey (of adults) to do with the 1st Amendment, and most people thought religious freedom was quite a bit narrower than written, and was designed to protect the majority group, not minorities.

 

I personally was very disturbed to see with my own eyes that for most children, Black History Month was about doing reports on one person: Martin Luther King. A distant second was Rosa Parks and then came (a bit to my surprise that there was so much interest) Ruby Bridges (maybe those kids know about Brown v Board!). Honest, no child ever wanted to read a book about anyone else! Children absolutely should know about those three people, but they should also know about others! The African American experience is vastly more diverse. Notice that all of these three are from the same time period! Where is George Washington Carver? Harriet Tubman? Langston Hughes? Barbara Jordan? Thurgood Marshall? Phyllis Wheatley? Gone. It's all become this flatland where only Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks (and maybe dear little Ruby Bridges) matter. It's sort of like learning history from cartoons or something.

 

Great post. And color me impressed at the quality of your high school education. I never read any of those cases until law school, and I doubt that as a 12th grader I could have successfully identified the quote.