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A native of the Magnolia State, Jessica Dickens grew up just a short drive away from one of the most infamous events of : the 1964 of three civil rights workers on their way to investigate a church burning. She鈥檚 also a graduate of one of Mississippi鈥檚 segregated high schools鈥攑art of a group of established in the 1950s to thwart school integration.

Yet even with her personal ties to civil rights history, the central figures in Dickens鈥檚 history lessons in her early teaching years in Mississippi聽were Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks鈥攖wo of the most memorable leaders from her own schooling, and聽staples of U.S. history textbooks. It was only with exposure to on civil rights history鈥攁nd after uncovering her state鈥檚 untold stories鈥攖hat the 11-year veteran began to shift her聽teaching approach.

鈥淚 realized we were providing an extreme disservice鈥� by teaching the whitewashed version of [civil rights] history,鈥� Dickens聽said, calling that realization her 鈥渢urning point.鈥�

It鈥檚 a common oversight in America鈥檚 classrooms. The story of the civil rights movement, as told and retold, generally includes only聽well-known heroes, heroines, and watershed moments from 1954 to 1968: Brown v. Board of Education,聽Martin Luther King聽Jr., Rosa Parks, the Montgomery bus boycott, sit-ins, and nonviolent black protests. In assessing states鈥� curriculum standards, a concluded that coverage of the movement was 鈥渨oefully inadequate鈥� and focused on 鈥渁 small group of charismatic leaders鈥� and 鈥渁 series of dates, names, and actions.鈥� Five states鈥擜laska, Iowa, Maine, Oregon, and Wyoming鈥攏either covered the movement in their standards nor provided supplemental materials to teach it.

But a new push is underway among educators like Dickens to correct this narrow view. Prompted by a curiosity about the period鈥檚 subtleties and complexities, teachers across the country are modifying their curricula and abandoning their textbooks to teach that : the role of grassroots activists and women, nuanced portraits of leaders like Parks and King, and racial and social justice battles that link the past to contemporary issues of inequality.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to get down to the nitty-gritty in the few days that some teachers have to cover this content, but still, you can present the 鈥業 Have a Dream鈥� speech as the centerpiece, or you can present the story of , , or other on-the-ground activists,鈥� stressed Aaron Broudo, a U.S. history teacher at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School in New York City. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a choice of where you start, and where you start has a lot to do with the way you鈥檙e conceptualizing the role of civil rights curriculum in a student鈥檚 education.鈥�

Debunking Common Myths

Motivated by a desire to deepen his historical knowledge, Broudo recently joined more than two dozen middle and high school teachers at Duke University for a led by veterans of the civil rights movement and recognized experts on the black freedom struggle.

Textbooks were spurned in favor of primary documents鈥攊ncluding from the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools, numerous on little-known activists of the era such as Amzie Moore, and recorded interviews and from civil rights organizers like Ella Baker. Throughout the seminar, a bottom-up teaching of history was emphasized, aimed at debunking many of the common misperceptions and misunderstandings about the period.

Even though participants had sought out the experience, many were still surprised by what they learned鈥攕pecifically the roles of black churches, youth,聽schools, families, and grassroots organizations in furthering the movement. In particular, many were unaware of the significance and leadership of black women, which Judy Richardson, codirector of the institute, said is among the most underreported angles in history lessons.

In the mass action against Montgomery鈥檚 bus system, 鈥渨omen put the leaflets out, they鈥檙e the ones who tell the black community that Mrs. Parks has been arrested and suggest a boycott of the buses,鈥� and yet聽鈥渢he traditional narrative is only men,鈥� said Richardson,聽a veteran of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a prominent group formed in the 1960s, and coeditor of . The institute鈥檚 reteaching of movement history mirrored what many notable researchers have been saying for decades.

, historian Derrick P. Alridge scrutinized six widely used high school history textbooks to analyze the depiction of Martin Luther King聽Jr., finding King was universally portrayed as 鈥渕oderate, magnetic, and inspirational...聽rather than the he was during his lifetime.鈥� Likewise, the image of Rosa Parks as meek and mild is a , writes Jeanne Theoharis, a political science professor at Brooklyn College. Parks was a seasoned organizer and activist in Montgomery, Alabama, for over a decade before the yearlong bus boycott.

This top-down framing in most history curricula鈥攚hich puts the focus on renowned leaders鈥攐bscures the story of the significant local organizing that fueled civil rights victories, said Tina Tosto, an English teacher at Pascagoula High School in Mississippi and former middle school history teacher. Tosto, who attended the institute, added that isolating the period in history lessons also deprives students of an understanding of the key historical events leading up to the movement鈥攏amely the role of black World War II veterans who demanded equality at home after serving overseas鈥攁nd the chronic societal problems it failed to fully resolve.

鈥淭he passage of legislation鈥攖he Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act鈥攚as definitely a success of the movement that fell short,鈥� she said, referencing聽present-day injustices like and .聽鈥淭he danger in teaching that the civil rights movement achieved its goals is that it implies to students that there is nothing left to fight for in regards to equity.鈥�

Sanitizing History

Yet learning new content is one thing鈥攊t鈥檚 another to discuss a historical era rooted in brutality and racism. At the institute, thorny issues surfaced following the screening of , the award-winning series on the civil rights movement. The stark contrast between academic discussions on racial oppression and the raw realities exposed in the documentary footage聽sparked tough conversations between the black teachers and their white counterparts, who formed the bulk of institute attendees, just as white teachers make up聽the vast majority of the nation鈥檚 public school teaching force.

Crystal Proctor, a black social studies teacher at Suitland High School in Forestville, Maryland, said the participants were resisting 鈥渨hat we鈥檝e always been taught versus the truth,鈥� and compared the exchanges to what she鈥檚 observed in tense, emotional classroom discussions on race.

Teachers also questioned how easy or difficult it would be to apply what they learned at Duke within their schools, which are not necessarily full of peers ready and willing to change their teaching practice, according to a number of participants. 鈥淚 had a coworker who said that teaching so in-depth about wrongdoings against African Americans was divisive...聽and that we all need to 鈥榞et over it,鈥欌�� said Tosto, referencing teachers鈥� resistance to embracing a more accurate retelling of the movement. Other teachers pointed to challenges at a higher level, such as a lack of support for professional development from administrators and an overemphasis on state accountability mandates.

These sentiments echo what , a professor at Rutgers University-Newark, explained as a general lack of institutional support for teaching about the movement, and racial conflict more broadly, in American schools. The result, he said, is a 鈥渕angling of history鈥� in which the movement is taught as a moral plea rather than a battle for political and economic power.

As with other tumultuous periods in American history, such as the forced migration of Native Americans or the internment of Japanese Americans, Payne said,聽civil rights education is 鈥渃ursory and sanitized,鈥� often neglecting to emphasize how controversial and disruptive the period actually was.

鈥淛ust weeks before the March on Washington [in August 1963], showed most Americans鈥�60 percent鈥攚ere opposed and thought it would set back the movement鈥檚 cause,鈥� Payne said. Mass demonstrations, boycotts, and sit-ins 鈥渨ere not considered civil then,鈥� he noted. 鈥淚n classrooms, much of that gets lost.鈥�

Payne stressed the value in school leadership taking the lead in changing that framing.

Connecting the Past to the Present

The payoff for students when the civil rights movement is comprehensively taught is considerable, added聽Payne, noting that young people come away able to interpret social change from a more critical perspective and see themselves as part of it. The impact may even be more sizable for white students, 鈥渨ho are even further removed from the history鈥� than black youth, who聽may be similarly unaware of the events outside of the standard narrative聽but do have a 鈥渟ense of the structural features of inequality鈥� from their daily lives, he said.

To broaden her students鈥� understanding of the civil rights movement, Jann鈥檒 Henry, a middle school English teacher at Whittier Education Campus, a K鈥�8聽public school in Washington, DC, introduced her class to the , a contemporary of Rosa Parks, and a , the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.

The reaction from her majority-black classroom, she said, was immediate and swift:聽鈥淚 thought that Martin Luther King was just a nonviolent person,鈥� said one student. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know that people had to be taught these tactics and how to be a pacifist,鈥� a classmate added, while another student said, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know that there was a black, gay man that perhaps should have been the face of this movement but wasn鈥檛.鈥�

Similarly, through a role-playing activity on the civil rights movement, Dickens awakened the curiosity of her 10th-grade students in rural Mississippi. 鈥溾�濃�攁 city that played a major role in the freedom struggle鈥攁llowed her class to take on the identities of activists from the period, many of whom were the students鈥� own age at the time, which increased the relevance and impact of the lesson, she said.

Yet the most enduring outcome of reconsidering the civil rights era, according to Henry, may be helping all students critically examine the influence of social and political movements and connect the past to the present day.

鈥淚 teach my students that the civil rights movement is ongoing,鈥� said Henry. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 look back and say, 鈥楾his was when black people didn鈥檛 have rights. This was when Jim Crow existed.鈥� They know a lot about Ferguson....聽We鈥檙e still fighting for civil rights.鈥�