IN 1991 THE school board in Oakland, California, was set to review new history textbooks that had been approved by the state legislature for use in the public schools. The student population in Oakland at the time was culturally diverse—more than 70 percent African American, Asian American, and Latino, and 24 percent white. Yet for years, Oakland's teachers had been forced to rely on outdated history textbooks that included stereotypes and misinformation about the nation's racial and ethnic minorities.

The new textbooks featured the voices and experiences of Americans from a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds, and included boxes within the text that highlighted the lives and accomplishments of important African American, Native American, and Latino figures such as Frederick Douglass (the former slave, writer, and orator who fought for the abolition of slavery) and Cesar Chavez (who struggled...