ABC News article: Students fight for Black history courses, a more diverse curriculum in high schools
Photo: Machayla Randall helped organize a Juneteenth protest, where she addressed a crowd. (ABC News)
Many high school students are usually preoccupied with fitting in and keeping their heads above never-ending tests and due dates.
But Machayla Randall, a high school senior in New Jersey, is more worried about making a difference in her school and beyond.
“There's definitely a lack of education of African American history throughout our school system,” she said. “In our history courses, the most you learn about African American history is during the month of February, which is Black History Month, and it's limited to the civil rights movement and that's pretty much it, unfortunately.”
For Randall and her classmates at Cherry Hill High School East, change begins with a course correction in history.
“Right now … we're asking for a mandatory African American studies course at the high school level that encourages teaching of systematic racism,” she said.