Racial Identities And Class Discussions In An American Slavery Seminar

Abstract

This essay started in the classroom discussions of an upper-level history course at Illinois State University in the Fall of 1994.1 The seminar, entitled "Slavery and the Old South," enrolled 22 students, consisting of upperclass students and two graduate students. The racial composition of the class roughly paralleled that of Illinois State University as a whole, 82% white, 13.5% black and 4.5% Latino. Discussions in this seminar were strained, so much so that by the last weeks of the semester, I decided to hand out an eleven-question, anonymous survey that asked students to discuss their feelings about participating in class as well as other topics. Students were encouraged to identify themselves by class rank, race, and gender, and they were informed that their responses might be used for research purposes. While not a large enough sample from which to draw reliable statistical results, the questionnaire decidedly struck a nerve. The students' response was enthusiastic: Students as a rule wrote extensive remarks, far longer ones than are typical on standard class evaluation forms. Clearly, the topics discussed below were of considerable interest to the history and history education majors who constituted the majority of my "Slavery and the Old South" class.