I know democracy was started in Athens and the Greeks were very influential, but why do schools focus on them so much? Surely other cultures had as significant impacts. Why don't we ever learn about ancient African or Asian cultures?
Not to discourage further discussion, but you may be interested in these previous related answers:
Historically speaking, does it make sense for college level history courses, such as Western Civilization, to start in ancient Mesopotamia and end in early Europe? with u/b1uepenguin
Steve King & the contributions of Western Civ with u/agentdcf and some great followup discussion.