no one has ever hid slavery and contrary to popular belief, that was not the impetus behind the civil war but it did become an issue later.
What led to the outbreak of the bloodiest conflict in the history of North America? (note this blue sentence is clickable to view the source of the following info)
A common explanation is that the Civil War was fought over the moral issue of slavery.
In fact, it was the economics of slavery and political control of that system that was central to the conflict.
A key issue was states' rights.
The Southern states wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so they could abolish federal laws they didn't support, especially laws interfering with the South's right to keep slaves and take them wherever they wished.
Another factor was territorial expansion.
The South wished to take slavery into the western territories, while the North was committed to keeping them open to white labor alone.
Meanwhile, the newly formed Republican party, whose members were strongly opposed to the westward expansion of slavery into new states, was gaining prominence.
The election of a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, as President in 1860 sealed the deal. His victory, without a single Southern electoral vote, was a clear signal to the Southern states that they had lost all influence.
Feeling excluded from the political system, they turned to the only alternative they believed was left to them: secession, a political decision that led directly to war.
As far as so called white privilege goes, teaching that white people are behind the problems of all folks who are not white, stating that white people will always come out ahead, is teaching hatred, bias and division like this country has never seen. I am not originally from the US, as as someone who probably has an opinion that is less involved, I see plenty of prejudice on the other side as well and have experienced it as a white person who never did a thing to anyone of color.
Stating all white people are evil etc, is geared towards hatred and suspicion among other things and teaching this to children will have results that most likely will eventually become physical altercations as has happened in the past.
Teaching that the US actually began in 1619 is an outright lie.
You say you are Canadian...well I am from Canada...born and raised and now residing in the US. Yes, I know about the residential schools and they are a terrible blight upon the country...but it was the Catholics that created system and did those things. Certainly not all Canadians and not Protestants.
I did note you say you are black and I honestly do not know where you think you see white privilege in Canada. One of my best friends in school growing up was black.
I would be curious as to which province you grew up in that you say you have experienced so called white privilege.