Part of the package

Over the next month, local students will answer trivia questions about Frederick Douglass and learn the meaning of the song "Follow the Drinking Gourd." They'll write essays about what being black meant in America before desegregation and will watch "The Rosa Parks Story" on television.

But unlike education 20 years ago, lessons on black culture and its contributions to art, music, literature and history don't stop when Black History Month ends Feb. 29.

Black authors are no longer isolated in a textbook chapter by themselves. Separate college and high school courses on subjects like "African-American History" are becoming a rarity.

Those issues are part of the total package now, taught throughout the year to all grade levels as part of local schools' curriculums.

'We're seeing authors as authors'

When Sharon Ramdial began teaching English in the early 1970s, there were no black authors in her textbooks. By the 1980s, the black authors were there but separated into a chapter by themselves. The textbook Ramdial currently uses at Jackson High School is broken down by genres and does not separate the work of black and white writers.

"I think that indicates an acceptance by scholars and the public," said Ramdial. "We're seeing authors as authors no matter what race they are."

Ramdial's 10th-grade students recently read "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Of Mice and Men." The two books, both of which carry strong messages about racism, were eye-openers for her students.

"We learned just how bad it was then," said 16-year-old Anthony Werner, a student in Ramdial's class. "I guess I knew it was bad, I just never realized things like they didn't even have a chance in court."

Some of the racial issues discussed in the books were difficult for students to handle, but Ramdial learned early in her teaching career to be frank with students.

"In some ways, we're immune to the reality of segregation. But it's not been all that long ago," Ramdial said. "If we're aware of our past, we won't repeat it."

The two books have given 15-year-old Candice Perry an appreciation of what other cultures bring to her education.

"Things would be boring without diversity and its influences," Perry said. "Just because we don't have a lot of people from different cultures in Jackson doesn't mean we can't learn about diversity."

Taught nine months a year

Pam Richmond, chair of the social studies department at Central High School in Cape Girardeau, said her school's global curriculum allows students to learn about not just black but other cultures' histories as well.

The curriculum starts in seventh grade and moves up through high school, presenting world history in chronological order.

"We teach black history nine months out of the year," said Richmond, who is getting ready to start a unit on slavery with her 10th-grade students.

Cape Girardeau teacher Pam Dumey said the lines between black and white achievements have not been as pronounced in music as in other subjects over the past few decades.

"There's not as much separatism because African rhythms have had such a huge influence on music," said Dumey said.

Dumey's music classes at Central Middle School focus on several different cultures throughout the school year, not just African or African-American. This month, her sixth-grade students will participate in an online project about Harriet Tubman, one of the heroines of the Underground Railroad, called "Road to Freedom."

"We live in one world now. The more we can teach our students to appreciate other cultures, the better off we'll be," said Dumey. "These lessons teach them tolerance."

Just a few hundred yards away, students in Carla Fee's seventh-grade social studies class at Central Junior High will learn about the accomplishments of famous black Americans and watch a documentary on Rosa Parks in February. Parks' arrest for refusing to let a white passenger take her seat at the front of a bus led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the early milestones in the civil rights movement.

Cultural background

The seventh-graders have spent the year learning about ancient cultures, including African, Middle Eastern, Asian and Indian cultures.

"Many students ask about the color and race of the cultures we study, so it gives students a good background on the origin of other cultures," said Fee. "For most history classes today, black history as well as other minority contributions are incorporated into the curriculum."

The same is true in Beth Thomas' art classes at Franklin Elementary. Thomas, who recently finished her master's degree thesis at Southeast Missouri State University on African masks, spends a big part of the year teaching students about other cultures.

"We're learning about people in our own country who have been successful," said Thomas. "If there's just one child who thinks 'I can do that' because this person did it, then that's a success."

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128