Why is Reconstruction left out of school curricula?

 Nedra Rhone, Atlanta Journal Constitution - It is telling that in 45 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, social studies standards for teaching Reconstruction in grades K-12 are “partial” or “non-existent” according to a January report from Zinn Education Project, a nonprofit that supports the teaching of history in middle and high school classrooms nationwide.

That means most students (and adults) in this country have little to no understanding of one of the most critical moments in our nation’s history — the period from 1865 to 1877 when millions of formerly enslaved people made political, social and economic strides which were dismantled and later obscured by white supremacists.

“For decades people were taught this racist version of Reconstruction, which blamed the so-called faults of the Reconstruction government on Black people and the power they had acquired in the South during this period,” said Adam Sanchez, a spokesperson for Zinn Education Project and a high school teacher in Philadelphia.

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