Dive Brief:
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Black teenagers (79%) are much more likely to say they would like to learn that the legacy of slavery "still affects" the position of Black people in American society today than their White (41%) and Hispanic (45%) peers, according to a nationally representative Pew survey released Thursday. That number was 48% for teens overall.
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Black teenagers were also the least likely to say they would prefer to learn that slavery "does not affect" Black people in America today, at 12%, compared to 47% of White teens, 42% of Hispanic teens, and 40% of teens overall.
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Teens were also starkly divided along political lines as to whether they should be taught that slavery still affects Black people’s position in society. While 60% of Republican-leaning teens said they would prefer to learn that slavery "does not affect" the position of Black people in America, 68% of Democrat-leaning teens said the opposite.
Dive Insight:
Should schools teach whether the legacy of slavery still affects the position of Black people in American society today? That question — or versions of it — has plagued educators and policymakers nationwide, fueling a years-long debate over controversial restrictions on race-related topics in the classroom.
While educators, parents and policymakers have weighed in on the issue, the new Pew report provides a glimpse into what students — and specifically Black students — want to learn about when it comes to slavery and its ongoing impact in America.
However, those issues came under scrutiny toward the end of President Donald Trump's term, when Trump ignited a movement among conservative leaders to steer away from curriculum materials like the 1619 Project that he said "rewrites American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom." The 1619 Project — a longform journalism project developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones and writers from The New York Times — explores the impact of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans to the formation and growth of the United States.
Since then, the push has snowballed into bans on what conservatives call "divisive concepts" or "critical race theory." Many of the policies have prohibited teachers from discussing race-related issues, such as the impact of slavery on socio-economic status today — which a majority of Black students say they specifically want to learn about, per the Pew report.
For example, in Florida — which has been on the forefront of the curriculum censorship movement — a statute prohibits teaching that "an individual’s…status as either privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by his or her race, color, sex, or national origin." It also prohibits teaching that "a person, by virtue of his or her race…is inherently racist…whether consciously or unconsciously."
The Pew report follows findings released last week by RAND that suggested such state-level curriculum restrictions may have a wider impact on teachers and students beyond the states where they are enacted.
The Pew report surveyed 1,453 U.S. teens between the ages of 13-17 from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2023.
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