"The last of the Civil Rights-era activists are aging, while most Americans today struggle to name important leaders in the movement or identify important moments in the struggle beyond Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Even then, the share of Americans who say they know a great deal or a a fair amount about King's "I Have a Dream" speech is dropping, especially among younger Americans, suggesting that those words are fading from memory."
"State of play: Younger Americans are now several generations removed from the Civil Rights Movement's defining moments, encountering its history less through classrooms or legacy media and more through algorithms and short-form video. Zoom in: Fewer than half of U.S. states require comprehensive teaching of the Civil Rights Movement in K-12 education. Young adults are significantly less likely than older Americans to say they learned much about civic history, including civil rights, in school, and scored poorly on basic civics questions."
An aging cohort of Civil Rights-era activists contrasts with widespread unfamiliarity among Americans about movement leaders and moments beyond Martin Luther King Jr. Awareness of King's "I Have a Dream" speech is declining, particularly among younger people, indicating fading collective memory. Less than half of states require comprehensive Civil Rights teaching in K–12, and young adults report learning little civic history and perform poorly on basic civics. Social media now rivals classrooms as the primary information source about race and inequality for those under 30. Political rollbacks of midcentury civil rights gains have produced limited campus protest and frequent online outrage that rarely yields durable political change.
Read at Axios
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