A Primer on Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

1. Presentation by Tracee Jean-Philippe

2.  Learn more about Dr. Schlesinger here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/washington/01schlesinger.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
 He was a famous American historian.
 He served as a special assistant to President John F. Kennedy from 1961-1963 and worked for the Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr. Presidential campaign.
 He was the national chairman of the ADA from 1953 to 1954 and he was also a two-time Pulitzer prize winner
(the Age of Jackson in 1946 and A Thousand Days in 1966).
 As multiculturalism emerged, he became one of its biggest opponents, which resulted in his 1991 book The
Disuniting of America, which has since been revised.

3.  How can multiculturalism hinder
the development of a cohesive
American identity?
 What are the possible hazards of
teaching ethnocentric history?
 What are the differences between
cultural pluralism versus
multiculturalism?
 What are some reasons why an
ethnic minority would cling to
what Eric Hosbawn calls “the
invention of tradition”?
 If assimilation is a two-way street,
what should be the roles of those
in the ethnic majority and ethnic
minority?
 What are the implications for
teacher’s and classrooms?
 What role does self esteem play in
performance and achievement?

4.  According to Schlesinger,
what are the main
differences between
Cultural Pluralism and
Multiculturalism?
 Which one is damaging to
the American identity?
Why?

6.  Why does Schlesinger reject
multicultural?
 Schlesinger claims that it stands
in the way of forming one
collective American identity as we
will begin to concentrate more on
how we are different then how we
are alike
 Why does Schlesinger reject
Afrocentrism?
 It is bad history as it is
inaccurate information
 The very teaching of it separates
students into ethnic categories
and keeps them from identifying
themselves as American
 No form of ethnocentrism
should be tolerated.
(Schlesinger, 1992)

7.  What the following Schlesinger
interview below:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4077828
Do you agree with Schlesinger’s
“ethnic cheerleading” remark?
Why or why not?

8.  Is a perspective of history that
emphasizes or promotes emphasis
on African culture and
“contributions of Africans to the
development of Western
civilization.” (“afrocentric,”
Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
 It developed as a reaction to what
was thought to be a Eurocentric
worldview of history.
 The validity of some of the claims
made by the historians in the
Afrocentric school of thought have
raised some serious questions.
 Here are some instances in which
teachers and historians alike have
debated over this historical
perspective:

9. A Teacher’s Look on Afrocentrism
http://www.adi.org/journal/fw94/Editorial-JohnsonFall1994.pdf

10. Afrocentrism: Balancing or Skewing History?
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/11/us/afrocentrism-balancing-or-
skewing-history.html

11. Reason vs. Race-based Schools :
The Canadian Debate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llqN07FWbHY&feature=relmfu

12. According to what we
have learned so far,
what are some of the
arguments for and
against an Afrocentric
curriculum?

14.  What the following Schlesinger
interview (44:30-46:40 minutes)
below:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/103669-1
 Do you agree or disagree with
Schlesinger’s assertion about the
role of self-esteem in academic
achievement?

15.  According to Maureen Manning,
people often confuse the terms self-
concept and self-esteem.
 She defines self-concept as “a
student’s perceptions of competence
or adequacy in academic and
nonacademic domains and best
represented by a profile of self-
perceptions across domains.”
 Self esteem “is a overall evaluation of
him- or herself, including feelings of
general happiness and satisfaction.”
(Manning 2007)
 There are myths and
misunderstandings about self-esteem
and self-concept as far as there
effect on high performance.
 To date, research shows that high
self-esteem appears to be a result
rather than a cause of high
achievement. (Baumeister et al.,
2003)

16. References
afrocentric.. 2012. In Merriam-Webster.com.
Retreived October 25, 2012, from http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/afrocentrism
Baumeister et al.,. (2003). Does high self-esteem cause better.
Psychological Science in the Public interest 4(1), 1-44.
Johnson, R. (1994). A teacher's look at Afrocentrism. The School
Community Journal, 4(2), 9-11. Retrieved from
http://www.adi.org/journal/fw94/Editorial-JohnsonFall1994.pdf
Manning, M. (2007, February). Self-concept and self-esteem in
adolescents. Retrieved from
http://www.nasponline.org/families/selfconcept.pdf
Marriott, M. (1991, August 11). Afrocentrism: balancing or skewing
history? The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/11/us/afrocentrism-
balancing-or-skewing-history.html?src=pm
Martin, D. (2007, March 01). Arthur Schlesinger, historian of power,
dies at 89. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/washington/01schlesinger.
html?_ r=2&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1351149902-L9
WH1ba3/4yoc1PwVfVrjw&
Schlesinger, A. (1992). The disuniting of america: reflections on a
multicultural society. (pp. 9-20, 73-99). New York: W.W. Norton.