Problematizing White Allyship in the Civil Rights Curriculum of Studies Weekly ®

Abstract

The American Civil Rights Movement has often been misrepresented in textbooks, children’s literature, and other curricular materials. With knowledge of the ongoing curricular distortion around Black history in P-12 curricula in mind, this article explores how a commonly used social studies curriculum, Studies Weekly ®, represents the Civil Rights Movement in its Standing for Freedom Civil Rights curriculum package. Through a quantitative and qualitative content analysis, we reveal how the Studies Weekly ® Civil Rights Curriculum distorts the Civil Rights Movement history by centering a White ally, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland. Ultimately the curricular materials portray Mulholland as a central figure in the movement, thereby marginalizing Black activists and offering a narrative of the movement that relies nearly exclusively on Mulholland’s life and experiences. In doing so, we conclude, the Studies Weekly ® curriculum does harm to the civic learning and potential of all students by failing to offer an appropriate vision of White allyship and activism.