About This Lesson
The lesson includes 5 steps that students go through to reflect on what they have seen in the news since August 12th and how the debate around public history has suddenly become very relevant. Students should be asked to think and reflect individually before joining in small groups to take on the role of deciding what historical figures are deserving of recognition and what kind of commemoration is appropriate. The goal of creating criteria for evaluation is to have students recognize that there are ways to guard against the "slippery slope" argument that "if we remove one slave-holder we have to remove them all."
Examples provided are intended to build on previous US history knowledge with some obvious choices left out (Native American Battlefields, the Enola Gay, etc.) because they appear elsewhere in the upcoming curriculum. Anne Frank and the Holocaust should lead to an interesting discussion about why non-US events and people might also be commemorated in the US.
Links to some possible articles are also included for use on with common core standards and as additional information for teachers and students.
