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Letter: A long struggle to teach black history

ISSUE | BLACK HISTORY MONTH A long struggle to appreciate heritage Thank you for this month's "Black History: What I Wish I Knew" series. When I was a student at Logan Demonstration Elementary and Philadelphia High School for Girls - considered prestigious schools back in the day - the study of Greek mythology

ISSUE | BLACK HISTORY MONTH

A long struggle to appreciate heritage

Thank you for this month's "Black History: What I Wish I Knew" series. When I was a student at Logan Demonstration Elementary and Philadelphia High School for Girls - considered prestigious schools back in the day - the study of Greek mythology was extensive, while the story of black people was reduced to two pages mostly of photos of black people picking cotton. There was no recognition of the history, culture, and religious practices of blacks brought to America in chains. No black poets or writers were part of my English classes.

For more than 30 years, the African American community in Philadelphia demonstrated and demanded that African, African Caribbean, and African American studies be added to the public school curriculum, only to be rebuffed year after year. Finally, those studies were included, but many parents contend that today's content is based on the interest and knowledge of individual teachers.

Thank goodness my family took me to museums, art galleries, and music and dance performances that featured people who looked like me. That helped me understand that black people were world people, not just some happy, nappy nonpersons listed as property along with animals on a plantation.

|Karen Warrington, Philadelphia, karen_warrington@aol.com