This is the response I would have had if I were your teacher.
Dear King,
I’m sorry you felt today wasn’t a good learning day. As a teacher, I have some days that feel that way–frustrating. As a student, I’ve sat in many classrooms & heard that “blah blah blah”–teachers saying things that didn’t connect with me, that felt wrong to me. I think it’s great that you cared enough to call out your teacher when you thought you heard lies. I’d love to know what those things were. From your journal, it sounds like it was about Columbus. It sounds like your teacher was saying that Columbus discovered America? I think you’re right: I think s/he is behind the times. The modern view on Columbus is that he was an explorer, but we can’t credit him with “discovering” the New World. You’re right: Many, many tens & hundreds of thousands of indigenous people had been living here for thousands of years already. Did you learn that from reading, or maybe from your family?
I wonder why your teacher wrote that s/he was “disappointed” in your journal. What do you think s/he meant? I can see that your response was “ok.” What did your “ok” mean? If it were me, I think my “ok” would mean that it was clear the teacher wasn’t open to discussing the interesting issues you brought up. If I were your teacher, I would LOVE to discuss those topics! They are so important, & your questions show a lot of interest & critical thinking. I would encourage even more questions!
Another really interesting question you ask at the end is “How can white people teach black history?” Wow! REALLY great question. First of all, what do you think makes a good teacher? What could we do to help a white teacher who wants to teach black history? Could a white teacher learn enough & care enough to teach black history well? Would all black teachers be better at teaching black history than white teachers? And how do you think students of different races might respond to white or black teachers of black history?
I’d love to continue our dialogue! And hopefully other open-minded teachers & students will join our conversation!
You ask a lot of great questions–you’d make a great teacher one day.
And as some constructive feedback, I’d say that the next time you have these types of questions, you could engage & connect with your teacher more by perhaps just presenting what you know. Lots of people get defensive if they’ve been accused of saying lies, especially if they feel they were not lying. You could write, “I’ve read that many native peoples lived here for a long time before Columbus came, so it doesn’t really seem like he ‘discovered’ America.” This is learning how to debate, which is different from arguing. If you learn those skills, you’ll be great on a debate team one day!
Keep questioning. Keep wondering. Keep learning!
Love,
Mrs. Shippee, Teacher
alice in mamaland 
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