Black History Month is celebrated during the shortest month of the year and Hispanic Awareness Month is celebrated from mid-September to early October.
Quite honestly, a month simply isn’t long enough to celebrate culture.
I believe it should be incorporated within our education curriculum for public schools. The first step to reimagining education as we build something new is to ensure that what we teach our children is inclusive, honest, and representative of all the cultures that make up our democracy.
Discussing culture shouldn’t be a heated debate either. As adults, we must practice what we preach and end the double standards. We can’t expect our children and youth to work together through cultural differences if they see adults unable to do it.
Cultural celebrations encompass so much that a month-long celebration simply doesn’t do the culture justice. I mean let’s start with a good recipe as an example. We can’t expect children and youth to become a master chef of a different culture within a few days. I mean it took me several months to master noodles.
We also have to keep in mind that no one’s culture is a monolith. Culture looks different for different people who have different beliefs and ideals. I believe incorporating cultural lessons within what we do in and out of school is a) everyone’s job and b) should be something that helps build citizens who are able to engage in society successfully.
Teachers, and students all are on the frontlines of teaching and learning. Parents want to be assured that their cultures are embedded within the foundation of what we are teaching in our public schools.
Our curricula should be culturally inclusive and representative of who we are as a people so that our children can be prepared to enter society as productive citizens.
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