Who Needs Multicultural Education? White Students, U.S. History, and the Construction of a Usable Past

Abstract

This article evaluates the efforts of three teachers at a predominantly white middle school to create a multicultural U.S. history curriculum by focusing on the experiences of enslaved African Americans during the Civil War. I argue that this focus unintentionally undermines students' ability to use history as a resource for thinking about contemporary race relations. I conclude with some suggestions for creating a multicultural history curriculum that will benefit both white students and students of color.