Access to History for the IB Diploma: Civil Rights and social movements in the Americas post-1945 Second Edition Paperback – Illustrated, February 26, 2016

Sanders presents a highly prejudicial accounting of the civil rights movement and its leaders. Her unnecessary and highly opinionated commentary conveys complete disdain for Black Americans and their struggle for human rights. The United States is closer to its lofty ideals today as the direct result of its Black citizens appealing to its better angels. It is disgraceful that this book is in print, let alone shaping the minds of our children. Here are some examples: “While Dr King graduated from an inferior Southern college but a good Northern university, Malcolm graduated from the school of drug dealing, pimping? burglary, and jail.” page 107 The so called inferior college that Dr King graduated from is Morehouse College. Malcom X did live a life of crime as a young man but he found God and reformed himself. Regardless of the good he tried to do, she paints him as nothing more than his mistakes. She goes on to say that The achievements of the Black Power movement are as controversial as the movement itself.” page 116 (what is controversial about voting rights and equal protection under the law?) she refers to followers of Malcolm X as ghetto-dwellers. This dehumanizing term and her repeated reference to Black ghettos serves to diminish the value of these people in students minds. She conveniently omits that Blacks were forced to live in specific areas of town through restricted covenants and racist housing and banking practices. When she talks about the Black Panthers, provoking police, she fails to mention the rampant and grotesque police brutality that Black people faced. Police kept many Black neighborhoods under siege. The Black Panthers were a response that said that this brutality is not lawful and that we should be able to defend ourselves. The irony is that the so called Black Panther manifesto that promoted self reliance, exercising 2nd amendment rights, investing in your own community- this was actually much of the Republican platform in the US. But instead of pointing out that fact- she insists on promoting the same type of gaslighting that the All-Lives matter crowd participates in. She refers to civil rights leaders as agitators and provocateurs simply because they asked to be treated as full citizens. People call stating factual information about the “founding fathers” of the US CRT, but this textbook promotes out right racist views against black people. People are upset that white kids might feel bad about themselves because Jefferson was a slave holder that sexually abused at least one child. But somehow it is ok to finish every leader of the civil rights movement. How is my child supposed to feel when the textbook refers to her father and his family as “ghetto dwellers?” It makes me sad that this book is used in the IB program and taught at a school named after John Lewis, a true civil rights hero. We have never been teaching kids to hate white people or America. But this book definitely teaches kids to see Black people as some undeserving underclass. Shameful!