Interview With Dr. Sarah King About The Importance of Teaching Black History to Students
Dr. Sarah King is a researcher and history professor at USC Aiken. She is well known among students and staff for being a strong advocate for the Black community as well as her personal interest in educating students.
King was born and raised in Canada and has always had an interest in African-American history. She earned her doctorate in history with a focus on US history and minors in World and Canadian history at Binghamton University.
“African american history is history and it’s really hard to learn about history if you are not learning about the Black aspect…textbooks downplay the experience of Black americans and even in pop culture the black experiences were misrepresented or not represented at all...it’s really important for me to give students an opportunity to study Black history, something that generations before didn’t get.” -King on why it’s important to teach Black history to college students
There have been times when King was teaching a topic in African American history that was unknown to students. Over time, the surprise of students never learning about such topics has faded but it’s still something to think about.
“I was surprised by how many students hadn’t heard of Emmett Till…students are often unfamiliar with the level of brutality that’s taken place in Black history”
King’s research had some focus on Black historical figures and it’s grown to be a personal interest. Lately, her favorite has been Harry Belafonte, a movie star and singer who stood alongside MLK during the Civil Rights Movement and spoke against the Vietnam War.
Although she’s been conducting research for years, there are still new historical facts that come up as interesting.
“I read two books about Sally Hemings and the Hemmings family and I really didn’t know how strong the evidence was that she and Thomas Jefferson lived together for many years and had these children. I also didn’t realize how amazing some early historians like Annette Gordon reed are for piecing together records from Jefferson with other sources” -King’s findings after searching for information regarding a “Hamilton” course she taught previously
Picture provided by the USC-Aiken directory.
