I have been thinking about race-conscious curriculum and its importance to my education and worldview in Maine ever since my high school teacher wrote to the Press Herald about teaching diversity in his English class (Maine Voices, June 19). I realized that without this knowledge, I would be immensely underequipped to understand my country and who I am as a United States citizen. Further inhibiting this education would be a major disservice to Maine’s students.
As many Mainers can see, we are not a diverse state. I can probably count on one hand the number of people of color I met before I graduated high school. It wasn’t until I was in college that I heard of the Tulsa Race Massacre. I was an adult who was not able to fully understand the hardships my friends had gone through to be able to sit next to me in class.
I now live in Alabama, where the racial makeup differs so greatly, but I have trouble understanding the inequality of my own neighbors. I now see it as essential that I have at least some understanding of what it means to be non-white in America.
As someone who has been through and benefited from our state’s public school system, I am asking everyone to think about how poorly we are setting up students by leaving out parts of history that we deem to be “anti-white.” Teaching stories about all history and cultures is not hurting students, but rather preparing them to be open and understanding citizens.
Faith Price
Huntsville, Ala.
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