Revisionism Reminds Us Why We Need Black History Month

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By Deron Snyder

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was the 16-year-old valedictorian of his high school class in 1964 -- also known as "Freedom Summer" -- when the slaying of three civil rights workers punctuated escalating racial violence in his state. What does he remember about the time? "Not much," he told The Associated Press recently. What he does remember is revisionist, including claims that his generation attended integrated schools and the racist White Citizens' Councils were civil rights champions.

In October, it was discovered that a textbook in Virginia elementary and middle schools claimed that thousands of black soldiers fought for the South in the Civil War. According to "Our Virginia," among the hordes of African-Americans fighting for the Confederacy were "two black battalions under the command of Stonewall Jackson." Though Confederate apologists make similar assertions, most historians reject the claims, the textbooks have been pulled and the publisher is replacing them at no cost to the schools. CONTINUE....