Diverse Materials

World War I and II, English monarchs, the French Revolution, the Cold War. 

What do all these very common high school history topics have in common? They're focused on white people. As a general rule in my high school's curriculum, we never learned about any non-White or Hispanic society, unless it somehow related to America or Europe. For example, we studied the colonization of Africa, and we studied Japan during WWII. However, never anything besides that.

So this lack of diversity in what we teach can only lead to social intolerance and ignorance out in the world. Upon graduation, kids think they know everything important that there is. But they don't know anything about South America, so therefore it must not be important. This is a lousy system, as it simply fosters inequality.

In addition to inflating the egos of white males, it's also something that's lacking in its own right. You should know about these countries because it's interesting and important just on its own. The better informed you are about what is going on in the rest of the world, the better suited you are to make decisions in your own neck of the woods.

So in conclusion, we should have subject matter that appeals to everyone. Singling out a certain group, whether you're being overly critical or touting everything they do, does everyone a disservice.