Abstract
As historians have increasingly explored the complex historical relationship between race, class, and institutions such as the federal government in shaping contemporary American society, historical sources such as the Federal Housing Association’s Underwriting Manual (1938) provide provocative opportunities for teaching. Brief excerpts from the Manual are a small window through which to examine the underappreciated role of the U.S. federal government in creating and sustaining a racialized version of the American Dream. The result is an opportunity to equip students, as citizens, with the historical thinking skills and sources to examine the enduring historical arc of racial injustice and resistance in the United States that serves as the foundation for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Highlights
As a historian at Illinois State University, I teach an undergraduate class to predominantly white middleclass students that uses the history of race and American culture to teach historical methods
I introduce my students to the Federal Housing Authority's (FHA) Underwriting Manual (1938) as a small window through which to examine the underappreciated role of the United States government in creating and sustaining a racialized version of the American Dream.[1]
I ask students to examine a brief excerpt from the Manual that includes the document's Preface for larger context and the section mentioned above as well as some additional sources related to race and housing in U.S history to contextualize and corroborate the Manual
Summary
As a historian at Illinois State University, I teach an undergraduate class to predominantly white middleclass students that uses the history of race and American culture to teach historical methods. When asked to describe the "relevant issues, origins, images, and larger implications" of the phrase "Black Lives Matter," their written answers rarely include information beyond the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 or incidents of police brutality in places such as Ferguson, Baltimore, and New York City.
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