The purpose of this literature review is to recognize the shortcomings of history textbooks in secondary education and discover how to bring change to history classrooms. The main problem with history textbooks is the amount of pertinent information that is simply not included within the text. In today’s society, a lot of African American history is left out of textbooks and this makes it difficult for black students to make meaningful connections to the material, while also decreasing their interest in learning about history. The findings show how alternative teaching methods can effectively include more African American history which, and as a result these efforts can increase African American students’ interest in history overall. This research is important because teachers, administrators, and parents can see how controlling history affects students in today’s classrooms and how it can impact students in future classrooms as well.