Compass 2016

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Veena Krishnan
Veena is a first-year Chemistry
major from Hoover, Alabama.
This paper, titled “The Value of
W.E.B. Du Bois as a Historian in
Today’s World: A Comparison
of his Writings to the Advanced
Placement United States History
and International Baccalaureate
United States History Curricu-
lums,” was written for her honors
course “W.E.B. Du Bois and
American History.”
She served as the Corporate
Sponsorship Chair for the Relay
for Life Leadership Council this
past year, the Events co-coordi-
nator for the Harrison Honors
Advisory Council, and has been
selected to serve on the Honor
Council next year.
The Value of W.E.B. Du Bois as a Historian in To-
day’s World: A Comparison of his Writings to the
Advanced Placement United States History and
International Baccalaureate United States History
Curriculums
Veena Krishnan
“The ink with which history is written is the fluid of prejudice” ~ Mark
Twain
First and foremost, Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois was a historian of the highest
caliber who was dedicated to the preservation of accurate, complete histor-
ical fact. As such, his understanding of history is particularly important to
understand to determine if present, conventional history can be deemed
to be accurate. His writings about black contributions to history, particu-
larly those that detail the influence blacks had over the course of World
War I (WWI), are notable for their level of detail which speaks to Du Bois’
fear that black contributions to the American effort in WWI would be
erased. It is easy to believe this fear is irrational because of how long these
lessons have been taught to students, making the assumption that such a
long period of time would have allowed for the correction of these “facts.”
However, when analyzing present high school history curriculums, it
seems as if Du Bois’ fear is justified. Take, for instance, the Advanced Place-
ment (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, which are in-
tended to provide high school students with an in-depth understanding of
the subjects they study. Instead, these supposedly advanced programs only
provide a surface understanding of WWI which is based on the tangle of
treaties. If one should attempt to understand the current version of WWI
history from Du Bois’ perspective, it is easy to see he would be appalled
with the state of these supposedly college equivalent programs as they are
guilty of omitting much of WWI history, but he would not be surprised
with the error-ridden way in which WWI history, particularly with respect
to race relations, is portrayed in current textbooks.
One of the many deficiencies in the present AP and IB programs’ WWI
curriculums is that there is little to no mention of the contributions of
black soldiers to the war effort. As previously noted, much the WWI
history taught in schools focuses on the causes of the war as opposed to
what happened during the course of the war (“AP United States History:
Including the Curriculum Framework 2015,” “IB History Review Guide/
The Causes, Course, and Effect of World War One 2015”). Admittedly,
this focus does not give much room to focus on the contributions of
black troops. In many AP textbooks, however, blacks of the 1920s are only
mentioned when discussing the Great Migration (“Chapter 31 - The War
to End War 1917-1918,” . The IB curriculum is only
slightly better than its AP counterpart as it mentions the presence of black
troops as part of the American effort but has little to no cataloging of the
actions of the black troops (“IB History Review Guide/The Causes, Course,
and Effect of World War One 2015”). Both curriculums show a marked
deficiency in mentioning the role black troops played in the war effort.
By contrast, Du Bois catalogues every movement of these black infantry
divisions in his piece, An Essay Toward a History of the Black Man in the
Great War . He notes the 805th and 806th regiments constructed roads that
were critical to ensure transportation of the weaponry to the front went
smoothly as the black troops built “first 2000 meters of Clermont-Neuvil-
ly road from Clermont road past Apremont…” (Du Bois, 712). In addition
to the logistical support the black infantry regiments gave, there were also
black fighting divisions such as the 92nd, 93rd, and the 369th, to name a