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black history
House Dems Slam 'Racist Tropes' in New Florida K-12 History Curriculum
Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost led the letter against "bigoted teaching standards in Florida that want kids to learn that Black people received 'benefits' from being enslaved."
Jul 22, 2023
Four Black Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday joined the growing chorus of critics opposing "racist tropes" in Florida's new K-12 history curriculum, which includes teaching middle school students "the resurrection of one of the greatest lies America has ever told itself, that slavery benefited the enslaved."
"Your decision to rewrite history to ingrain white supremacy into the minds of children is a colossal step backward and an insult to Black people, descendants of slaves, and the intellect of the American people," three Florida Democrats—Reps. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, and Frederica Wilson—and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) wrote to the state's Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and Board of Education Chairman Ben Gibson.
The first-of-its-kind standards approved Wednesday by the Florida board "are not the truth of American history but riddled with falsehoods that minimize the unique racial terror experienced by Black people in America throughout time," the lawmakers argued.
"These standards are out of touch with reality and will leave future generations of Floridians out of touch and disadvantaged in the world outside of Florida," they warned. "Even worse, it plants the sinister thought that enslavement and continued harm toward Black people today is also acceptable and beneficial."
Flordia's mandated instruction that enslaved people developed "skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit" has garnered national attention but "is not the only dangerous falsehood," the quartet highlighted. They pointed out that the curriculum for middle school students "also requires downplaying and tempering the horror of American slavery by requiring it is coupled with teaching, 'how slavery was utilized in Asian, European, and African cultures,' 'the similarities and differences between serfdom and slavery,' and 'comparative treatment of indentured servants of European and African extraction.'"
Additionally, for high schoolers, the standards "list massacres of Black people in America as, 'examples of acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans,' falsely assigning shared responsibility to Black victims," the lawmakers noted.
"We demand the Florida Board of Education immediately reverse its decision," they concluded. "Not repealing these new standards would dig up the corpse of the worst version of our nation and force our children to live in it."
Frost, Cherfilus-McCormick, Wilson, and Horsford aren't the only critics of the Florida curriculum in Congress. U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), a Black former teacher and principal, tweeted Friday that "this is an outright attempt to rewrite history and ignore America's past of racial exploitation and violence and the trauma from the impact of slavery on Black Americans."
Congressman Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.)—a son of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson—thanked Vice President Kamala Harris "for standing up for the truth" by blasting the Florida standards and declared that "we must be true to our history, even when it's painful."
The national alarm over Florida's curriculum comes after the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis—now a GOP 2024 presidential candidate—earned widespread criticism earlier this year for rejecting an Advanced Placement course about African American studies for high school students.
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'Heinous' New Florida K-12 History Curriculum Teaches Slavery Was Beneficial for Black People
"Ron DeSantis & Co. want us to believe slavery was a free training program," cracked one critic.
Jul 20, 2023
Educators, historians, and civil rights leaders were among those who on Thursday condemned Florida's new K-12 history curriculum as a "big step backward" for teaching that slavery gave African Americans beneficial "skills," and for what critics argue is a disproportionate focus on Black-on-Black violence.
After more than an hour of what Florida Politicscalled "mostly oppositional" public comment, the Florida Board of Education on Wednesday adopted the new, 216-page guidelines for K-12 education.
In addition to teaching the superiority of U.S. capitalism compared with systems of "authoritarian control over the economy" like socialism and communism, the section on antebellum history states that "instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."
"How can our students ever be equipped for the future if they don't have a full, honest picture of where we've come from?"
Additionally, in a state that saw Jim Crow-era atrocities including the Ocoee and Rosewood massacres and lynchings like the Newberry Six, the new curriculum says students should be taught about "acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans."
Florida state Sen. Geraldine Thompson (D-15)—who fought to include a lesson about the 1920 Ocoee massacre, in which a white mob murdered dozens of Black people trying to vote—toldThe Washington Post that the curriculum "suggests that the massacre was sparked by violence from African Americans. That's blaming the victims."
The Florida Education Association (FEA), the state's largest teachers' union, said in a statement that "these standards are a disservice to Florida's students and are a big step backward."
Author, professor, and activist Ibram X. Kendi compared the tone of the new curriculum to enslavers who "defended slavery by claiming it was a 'positive good' for Black people."
Democratic presidential candidate and author Marianne Williamson tweeted: "Minimizing slavery is as offensive as minimizing the Holocaust. We should never do it, and we shouldn't be OK with Florida doing it either. It is a disservice to our ancestors, a disservice to our children, and a disservice to our future."
Sari Beth Rosenberg, who teaches Advanced Placement U.S. History in New York, asserted that "slavery was not beneficial to enslaved people. Ever."
"The fact that a fellow history teacher in Florida is now expected to teach that is asking that teacher to commit educational malpractice. It is forcing teachers to teach lies to their students," she added. "It's despicable and we need everyone with a platform and expertise to speak out about this."
In a sarcastic tweet, Marvin Dunn—who specializes in Florida's Black history—lamented that the new curriculum "requires the teaching of the benefits of enslavement for the slaves."
"It also has a section on the benefits of having cancer," he sarcastically added.
Mark Jacobs, an author and former Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times editor, quipped that "Ron DeSantis & Co. want us to believe slavery was a free training program," a reference to Florida's Republican governor, who is seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
Florida Education Commissioner Manny Díaz Jr, a Republican, insisted that the curriculum "provides Florida students a robust knowledge of African American history."
"If anyone takes the time to actually look at the standards, you can see that everything is covered," he said at Wednesday's Board of Education meeting.
While serving in the state Legislature, Díaz was the primary sponsor of the so-called Stop WOKE Act, which was signed into law by DeSantis last year. The legislation prohibits classroom discussions or corporate training that make students or workers feel uneasy about their race in what critics say is an effort to whitewash and stop discussion about the history of a nation built on a foundation of genocide, slavery, imperialism, and enduring discrimination.
Last November, a federal judge blocked key provisions of the law, citing George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 in his ruling.
Earlier this year, the Florida Department of Education also drew widespread condemnation for banning a pilot Advanced Placement high school African American course that, according to DeSantis, "lacks educational value" and violates the Stop WOKE Act by allegedly promoting critical race theory (CRT).
There is little to no evidence that CRT—a graduate-level academic discipline examining systemic racism—is being taught in any K-12 school in Florida, or anywhere in the United States.
"How can our students ever be equipped for the future if they don't have a full, honest picture of where we've come from?" FEA president Andrew Spar said in response to the new curriculum guidelines. "Florida's students deserve a world-class education that equips them to be successful adults who can help heal our nation's divisions rather than deepen them."
"Gov. DeSantis is pursuing a political agenda guaranteed to set good people against one another, and in the process he's cheating our kids," he continued. "They deserve the full truth of American history, the good and the bad."
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We Need More, Not Less, Education on Black History and Structural Racism
American history is wrought with the good, the bad, and the ugly. When we provide access to comprehensive educational opportunities for all students, it instills resilience and empathy for the shared American experience.
Feb 09, 2023
On the first day of Black History month, the College Board stripped down AP African American History, removing references to elements of Black history that some called “politicizing” or “woke indoctrination.” This is a part of a national wave to erase and rewrite Black history--which is, by the way, American history. Proposed state legislation in Missouri, as well as laws passed in Iowa and Florida, uses phrases like “parents’ rights” to justify the banning of books and erasing images, stories and history of Black life from the k-12 curriculum. But I would suggest that what we need is more, not less, education on structural racism and Black history.
I teach college students about the history of the American school. My students graduated from high school, performing strongly enough to gain admission to a highly ranked university. Yet they often have a limited understanding of racism and the systemic exclusion of specific groups of people in our history. Many of these students, mostly white and from relatively privileged backgrounds, say that they did not learn enough about Black history. They aren’t happy about it either. They are disappointed in us, disappointed that we are not preparing them for the world they are entering.
Here in my own state, Missouri, lawmakers last week hotly debated new legislation introducing sweeping language on what parents can object to teaching and giving them the power to remove content from the curriculum: the law calls this “transparency.” Missouri is following in the wake of other states attempting to remove "divisive" subjects from public schools. In April, Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E. act restricted the way teachers could discuss Black (again, American) history. Meanwhile, Iowa is experiencing widespread book bans: Des Moines’s largest metro school district may ban six books, including Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer.
The wording of much of this legislation portrays a failure of education, because it distorts or misrepresents what is actually being taught. For instance, conservative lawmakers conflate the teaching of history with critical race theory. They argue that teaching about past racist policies like segregation somehow accuses white learners of themselves being racist. Statements like Missouri State Senator Andrew Koenig’s claim that “"CRT-type things are being done," betray a vagueness and absence of nuance that no self-respecting high school teacher would tolerate in an essay. Koenig has further claimed that teaching about the historic exclusion of different groups from the basic rights and provisions in America is “white-shaming.” But what I find shameful is that our legislators don’t understand American history enough to comprehend that racism is, in fact, endemic, and that their actions this week (at the start of Black History Month no less) attest to that. This legislation is in fact a continuation of structural racism that is as old as America itself.
Perhaps if these lawmakers themselves had learned more about Black history, and indigenous history, and yes, even critical race theory, in middle and high school, they would have a more informed and nuanced view of the importance of history.
These lawmakers might then understand the implications of their actions. Determined families will ensure their children receive this education regardless of support at the school, district, local, or state level. Yet we cannot ignore that legislative action to limit education and continue to force Black history to the margins, outside of the walls and light of the school building, feels a lot like a return to learning in secret, like the “pit schools” of the south--literal pits in the ground concealed in the woods where enslaved people were forced to hide so they could learn to read and write. In Iowa, we are already seeing a resurgence of supplementary education, as legislation has left students, teachers, and administrators with few tools to expand access to these curricula, and have thus resulted to teach-ins, Saturday and evening schools, and other unsanctioned methods to provide the education students are demanding.
To be sure, legislators argue that important aspects of Black history, such as slavery and civil rights, will continue to be covered in the standard US History curriculum. But the stories of slavery and the civil rights movement are not the sum of the Black experience. Depictions of Black people in those two components history are not the only images my kids should have. In fact, if our children learn that slavery and the fight for civil rights are the sum total of Black history, that could leave white students feeling more shamed than ever, ironically contradicting the legislation Koenig is working so hard to enact.
American history is wrought with the good, the bad, and the ugly. When we provide access to comprehensive educational opportunities for all students, it instills resilience and empathy for the shared American experience. Comprehensive K-12 education needs to be more, not less inclusive. Comprehensive K-12 education needs to include an unbiased 360-degree rendition of historical facts in relevant cultural contexts. It needs to teach key elements of critical race theory, such as that racism is in fact endemic to American life, that our current social contexts are a reflection of the structural racism and inequity of the past and present. While the nature of education is teaching society's past, teaching the truth allows for greater acceptance when everyone shares the real experiences and real history of the people in society. If we teach more, not less, American history including the fullness of the Black experience, we will create better, emotionally intelligent leaders, more able to critically consider the complex realities of the American experience and better able to help us create a more equitable world. By knowing real history, future generations (and hopefully our legislators) will be more informed to not repeat mistakes of the past.Keep ReadingShow Less
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