After reading the article and looking at the websites that reference Native Americans I began thinking about how many different racial injustices are just overlooked when textbooks are made and when teacher's lessons are made. An example is that of the Native American boarding schools. I just learned about these about a month ago in another class and I was shocked that this was something I was not taught as a student. It is also surprising that I have taken two American history courses here at ASU and they were not mentioned in either one of the them. It just makes me wonder how many other instances of racial injustice are out there that people avoid bringing up because they are too difficult to talk about or someone decided that they should be pushed aside and forgotten. I hope to be able to teach my students the realities of different races and the injustices they faced in the past as well as ones they still face today.

I agree with you Candance. The racial injustices against Native Americans are often overlooked and/or ignored in a lot of classrooms. It is so important for us as teachers to teach our students the facts about the history of our country, especially about Columbus and Thanksgiving. I have learned from many of my Spanish classes that the native people of Mexico and other Latin American countries despise Columbus for the horrible things he did to their ancestors.

I agree with you both. It is a shame that there are still ethnic groups that are being mistreated, even though it is because of ignorance. I feel that there has been a lot of effort to teach and educate about the history of African Ameicans but the majority of other ethnicities have been left out. I have also seen an entire documentary on the way that textbooks have changed, sugar coated, or even left out pertinent information concerning historical events and movements. As teachers, we must know our content area and be able to critique our resources and make sure we are using the best ones. Perhaps this is why we weren't taught about the Native American boarding schools.

I think that it has to deal with who teachers see more often. If there were more Native Americans that African Americans than I think more teachers would focus on the plight of Native Americans. I do not think this is the right thing to do and we should never leave our students in the dark but I think many teachers see it as what they need to teach in order to survive.

I agree that teachers often teach based on their makeup of students in their classroom. However, I feel that teachers should present various viewpoints equally, though, so that students understand better the plights of the minorities and the events in history.

It is unfortunate, but I must admit that I have never been taught the inequities of Native Americans. I still have the typical Thanksgiving picture in my mind that was taught to me in Elementary school. Even though we haven't started teaching yet, we all know that there is more material than time allows for. We can only fit so much in a semester or year. So, one must decide, is it better to teach quantity or quality? We tend to prioritize according to what we think is most important. Therefore, if you have the time and can effectively do so, teach it ALL. If not, then gear toward the diversity needs of your students. This is what I think anyway.

I was also in the dark about the treatment of Native Americans in the United States. I knew very little and only knew that they were sent to boarding schools, but no information on the treatment. Another group of people that I knew very little about were Eastern Europeans. I had no clue the racism they faced until a class I took this summer that discussed there treatment. Has anyone ever heard of the "Sacco and Vanzetti Case"? It really showed the racism Italians faced and how two innocent Italian men were found guilty of a crime they never committed.

Maybe I had some really great history teachers (or maybe it's because I took 6 history classes in high school), but I had heard of all of these things. What was really surprising to me was that these things AREN'T taught in most schools. It's sad that the only prejudice that is taught about is that against African Americans when in reality, there are still some MAJOR prejudices throughout the United States that should be addressed in school. After all, nothing will get better until people are aware that there is a problem.