Whenever I tell high school students in classes I visit that I appreciated learning about slavery as a child growing up in the Caribbean, they often look confused.
Why, they ask, did I like learning about slavery given that it was so horrible and harsh? How could I value being taught about something that caused so much hurt and harm?
That’s when I tell them that my teachers in St. Thomas – and my fourth grade history textbook – didn’t focus just on the harsh conditions of slavery. Rather, they also focused on Black freedom fighters, such as Moses Gottlieb, perhaps better known as General Buddhoe, who is credited with leading a nonviolent revolt that led to the abolishment of slavery in the Danish-ruled West Indies on July 3, 1848. The historic date is now observed and celebrated in the United States Virgin Islands as Emancipation Day.
The holiday – and the lessons I learned about it – instilled in me a sense of cultural pride and gave me a better appreciation for the sacrifices that Black people made for freedom. It also encouraged me to always push on when faced with challenges.
The reason I bring this up is because I believe Juneteenth – which commemorates the date in 1865 when Union troops notified the last remaining slaves in Texas that they were free – holds similar promise for Black students throughout the United States.
Students often tell me that they’re not learning much about slavery beyond the suffering and harsh conditions that it involved. As a historian who specializes in how slavery is taught in K-12 classrooms, I believe there are several ways educators can incorporate Juneteenth into their instruction that will give students a broader understanding of how Black people resisted slavery and persevered in spite of it. Below are just a few.
Start Early, But Keep it Positive
As early childhood experts assembled by the National Museum of African American History point out in a guide they created to help develop lessons about Juneteenth, children in the U.S. will probably hear about slavery by age 5.
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