The Limits of Master Narratives in History Textbooks: An Analysis of Representations of Martin Luther King, Jr

In The Limits of Master Narratives in History Textbooks: An Analysis of Representations of Martin Luther King, Jr., Derrick Alridge argues that U.S. history textbooks present discrete, heroic, one-dimensional, and neatly packaged master narratives that deny students a complex, realistic, and rich understanding of people and events in U.S. history. In making this argument, he examines the master narratives of Martin Luther King, Jr., in high school history textbooks and show how textbooks present prescribed, oversimplified, and uncontroversial narratives of King that obscure important elements in King’s life and thought.

Credit: By Derrick Alridge. Published by Teachers College Record, Volume 108, Number 4, April 2006, pp. 662–686.