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Truman and Civil Rights

Jim Jaeger

Happy Friday, all!

We are working our way through US History B.  After finishing WWII, we have moved into the Truman Presidency.  In looking at his legacy, I want to acknowledge his contributions to racial integration and equality.   He did have a reputation, however, for being prejudiced regarding race in his private life.  He used racial slurs, told racist jokes, and was not a supporter of intermarriage leaving some complexity behind in this regard.  How do you explain this dichotomy to students (if at all)?

  • I feel like interrogating the contradiction there can become the lesson. Like turn it into a "how should we remember this man?" type of lesson, where you present kids with the evidence on both sides, ask them to pretend that they are historians, or planning a memorial, or they are teachers teaching history, etc, and have them choose how he should be thought about based on the conflicting evidence. I feel like a lack of ability to wrestle with nuance is a HUGE problem in our country and contradictions like these help to build that skill up in our students.