July 23, 2020
This one letter in a textbook could change how millions of kids learn about race
Albert Broussard, a professor in the Department of History and one of the most prolific textbook writers in the U.S., intends to change how children learn about race.
Dr. Albert Broussard of the College of Liberal Arts history department.
Albert Broussard’s intention to capitalize one letter in one word may impact millions of children around the US and how they learn about race.
Broussard, a longtime history textbook writer for McGraw Hill and a history professor at Texas A&M University, is planning to capitalize the b in Black in a lengthy revision to a history textbook used in American middle and high schools. His revisions are happening as civil unrest grips the nation and while experts argue that change is needed in how Black history is taught in the US.
Whether to capitalize the b in Black is also part of an ongoing historical debate on racial identification that dates back to sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois more than a century ago.
McGraw Hill is one of the country’s largest K-12 textbook publishers that may use Black capitalized following protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed May 25 after a White police officer was seen on video pressing his knee onto his neck…
Story continues at CNN.com.