The Town That Desegregated in the 1870s

Did you know that in the 1870s there was a small town in Michigan where whites and blacks lived peacefully together? Don’t feel so bad if you didn’t. Most schools don’t teach their students about Covert, Mich. The question is: why not?

For far too many American schoolchildren, the only Black stories they hear are ones of oppression and victimization. The Maryland Lynching Memorial Project challenges students to write poetry about the black men and women who were lynched in the state. The group says it is working to “advance reconciliation. . . by documenting the history of racist lynchings.” Lynching, which killed both whites and blacks, is an important part of American history that should not be ignored. But should it be a primary lens through which we understand our racial history?