Some Big Lies I Was Taught In Public School

"Virginia: History, Government, Geography” by Francis Butler
Simkins and others was a required textbook for Virginia public
schools when I was a student.

I grew up in a racially segregated state known to have had the largest enslaved population of any state in the Union. The public school in which I was enrolled from 1946 to 1951 was still strictly segregated, and I grew up in a virtually all white world,

The required 7th grade history text in  our school, Virginia: History, Government, Geography, was authored by Francis Butler Simpkins, a professor  at Longwood College. According a Wikipedia article about him, Simpkins was once known as a progressive on matters of race but became markedly more conservative over time. His views may have been influenced by his wife being a teacher in a Prince Edward County public school, which became the infamous focus of Virginia's Massive Resistance after the 1954 Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling that segregated schools were unconstitutional,

In a recent column in the Washington Post, Dana Milbank included quotes from this textbook that was a required part of the curriculum of every school in the Commonwealth. While I have no memory of the details, its view of slavery aligns with impressions I gained in school about this part of our state's history. 

(I also clearly remember often singing what was then our state song, "Carry Me Back To Old Virginia" in music classes, with its  nostalgic and whitewashed version of black slave history, along with such Stephen Foster ballads as "My Old Kentucky Home," and "Old Black Joe" with similar themes.)

Here are some quotes in Milbank's column from chapter 29 of Simkins' text:

“A feeling of strong affection existed between masters and slaves in a majority of Virginia homes. … It was to [the master’s] own interest to keep his slaves contented and in good health. If he treated them well, he could win their loyalty and cooperation. … The intelligent master found it profitable to discover and develop the talents and abilities of each slave. … The more progressive planters tried to promote loyalty and love of work by gifts and awards.”

“Many Negroes were taught to read and write. Many of them were allowed to meet in groups for preaching, for funerals, and for singing and dancing. They went visiting at night and sometimes owned guns. … Most of them were treated with kindness.”

“The tasks of each [house slave] were light. … They learned much about the finer things of life. The house servants took a great deal of pride in their comfortable positions. …The field hands … were given a rest period at noon, usually from one to three hours. Those who were too old or too sick to work in the fields were not forced to do so. … The ‘task system’ … gave them free hours after they finished their daily tasks. … The planter often kept a close eye upon [the overseer] to see that the slaves were not overworked or badly treated.”

“Male field hands received each year two summer suits, two winter suits, a straw hat, a wool hat, and two pairs of shoes. … Often the members of the master’s family would hand down to their favorite slaves clothing which they no longer needed. … [The slaves] loved finery.”

“Every effort was made to protect the health of the slaves. … It was the duty of all mistresses to give sick slaves the same care they gave their own children.”

“The house servants became almost as much a part of the planter’s family circle as its white members. … A strong tie existed between slave and master because each was dependent on the other. … The regard that master and slaves had for each other made plantation life happy and prosperous.”

"[The slaves] liked Virginia food, Virginia climate, and Virginia ways of living. Those Negroes who went to Liberia … were homesick. Many longed to get back to the plantations. … It must be remembered that Virginia was a home as much beloved by most of its Negroes as by its white people. Negroes did not wish to leave their old masters.”

“Life among the Negroes of Virginia in slavery times was generally happy. The Negroes went about in a cheerful manner making a living for themselves and for those for whom they worked. … They were not worried by the furious arguments going on between Northerners and Southerners over what should be done with them. … The negroes remained loyal to their white mistresses even after President Lincoln promised in his Emancipation Proclamation that the slaves would be freed.”

I find the above examples especially telling in light of current debates over how issues of race should be taught in our nation's schools.

Just one example of the stark contrast between actual history and the version I was taught in school.