John K. Laub
According to “The New Haven Public Schools Social Studies Curriculum Overview,” the primary mission of the NHPS Social Studies curriculum is to “support the development of active, informed and responsible citizens.”xxx To accomplish this, teachers must help students to make the following logical connections:
“Past, present, and future—between historical and contemporary events and issues.
Global—between regions, environments, and cultures around the world.
Personal—between the curriculum and students' personal interests, concerns, and career aspirations.
Interdisciplinary—between various content areas.”xxxi
This curriculum unit specifically guides students to make those connections by exploring the concept of structural racism in American history. This unit scaffolds and guides students to make connections between Indigenous People, white supremacy and privilege and the promotion of racial stereotypes by sports teams while considering interdisciplinary content areas of social studies across the curriculum. In the final assessment, students are encouraged to apply what they have learned from the curriculum unit to make personal connections with structural and legitimized racism in modern American by writing an argumentative essay.
