The Greatest Generation?

Just finished up a lesson on World War II with my U.S. History classes. Unfortunately, two snow days and the county’s reluctance to reschedule the standardized midterm meant that we as a class had to rush through a lot of content by Wednesday. Regardless, this is usually a fun lesson to teach due to the plethora of topics to discuss. When I began this lesson, I asked students to consider two alternative features of the war usually lost in the “great man” history that is pushed in U.S. History standards. I asked them to consider the issue of race and the impact of race in the way in which country’s carried out their war effort. I usually phrase the discussion question in this manner: “Is World War II a world race war?” More often than not, it’s pretty interesting to hear what students have to say on the matter. Another aspect that…