How Southern Politicians Reformed Textbooks to Resist Civil Rights Demands

Agustina S. Paglayan

Journal of Historical Political Economy, 2025, vol. 5, issue 1, 85-111

Abstract: How do political elites react when historically marginalized groups mobilize, gain political voice, and demand institutional reforms? This study explores this question by analyzing state-level curriculum reform in the U.S. South following the Civil Rights Movement. To assess whether curriculum policy was responsive to Black activists' demands, I compare changes in the content of state-approved history textbooks from around 1955 to 1975 in Alabama, Indiana, and California. The analysis reveals that, while non-Southern textbooks evolved to better reflect Black activists' curriculum demands, Alabama textbooks largely retained narratives that minimized or erased the history of racial discrimination. The findings highlight how, even in democracies, curricula can be used as a tool of social control to promote the notion that there is nothing wrong with the status quo. The theory and findings shed light on the conditions under which elites are likely to resist curriculum reforms that acknowledge historical racial inequalities.

Date: 2025
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