You're not part of the problem simply by acknowledging that you are ignorant on the subject as a consequence of history no longer being taught. I was in HS when history class flipped to social studies and it has been down hill from there.

I took it on myself to challenge what I kept hearing as derogatory (eg Uncle Tom) and learned that those foisting those monikers were damn fools who were either ignorant on the subject, or worse, figured everyone else was so they used the term as needed. When I wrote commentary I had to know my subjects simply because I got tons of hate mail and, worse still, challenges from like minded people who had way more depth in the area than I did.

Do your own digging. It pays dividends in misery because now you see more clearly. Even so, you'll know and understand.