Buried Histories: Systemic Motivations for Omitting and Distorting Racial Trauma in U.S. History Education

Abstract

Why are histories of racial trauma so often omitted or distorted in U.S. history education? This study investigates the systemic motivations behind curricular erasure by drawing from interviews with historians, cultural studies scholars, and educators. Participants reflected on suppressed or distorted accounts of events such as the Sand Creek Massacre, the Tulsa Race Massacre, anti-Asian violence, and the lynching of Italian immigrants. Findings identify converging ideological pressures, such as nationalism, denialism, and efforts to preserve favorable portrayals of the U.S. government, as key drivers of curricular distortion. This research contributes to critical curriculum studies and the teaching of difficult, violent, and intergenerational traumatizing racial histories by examining how racial violence is remembered, reframed, or buried in public education.