Expert Perspective: New Proposal to Use Southern Plantations to Teach Kids About Racism

America's history is steeped in racism - and how the country accepts and reconciles its past has been a topic of much debate and consideration.

Last year, Georgia Southern University Associate Professor of Geography Amy Potter, Ph.D., was awarded a $75,000 National Science Foundation grant for the project, “The Role of Museums in the Landscape of Minority Representation.”

And recently, she co-authored a fantastic piece titled, New Proposal to Use Southern Plantations to Teach Kids About Racism, that has been getting a lot of pick-up from news organizations across the country.

New Proposal to Use Southern Plantations to Teach Kids About Racism

State legislatures across the United States are cracking down on discussions of race and racism in the classroom. School boards are attempting to ban books that deal with difficult histories. Lawmakers are targeting initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.

Such efforts raise questions about whether students in the U.S. will ever be able to engage in free and meaningful discussions about the history of slavery in America and the effect it had on the nation.

As cultural geographers, we see a potential venue for these kinds of discussions that we believe to be an overlooked and poorly used resource: plantation museums... April 02 - Yahoo!News 

If you're a reporter looking to know more about this important topic - then let us help with your coverage and stories.

Amy Potter, Ph.D., is available to answer your questions - simply reach out to Georgia Southern Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.