Outcasts…Outliers…Oppressed: Civic Advocates in U.S. History Worth Investigating

As de Tocqueville recognized, the U.S. democratic system relies on the advocacy of civic-minded individuals. Although U.S. history is replete with persons using different means to advance one or more democratic principles, VanSledright and Hess argued that secondary history education reinforces a persistent national narrative, one characterized by progress toward achieving national goals, an emphasis on ethnic success stories and avoidance of ethnic struggles and conflicts, and a quest for freedom. Such an approach results in a celebratory story of success, rarely one of struggle or failure. This approach silences those seemingly on the fringes of democratic society, denying students access to a richer, more nuanced narrative and to diverse ways to become civically engaged. To address this situation, we suggest first enabling students to contemplate what influences how individuals become civically engaged, next to apply their thinking to contemporary public policy matters, and finally to compare their decisions to those of historical figures, such as Bayard Rustin, often overlooked in the national narrative.