DOVER – Seeking to better integrate and incorporate a more realistic and holistic history of Black people into Delaware’s educational system, lawmakers passed legislation Thursday to ensure Black history is taught in public schools.
While schools dedicate lessons to the struggles and achievements of Black Americans during Black History Month each year, these teachings are often segregated and limited to those four weeks and not woven into the entire story of American history.
Sponsored by Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker, House Bill 198 would require each school district and charter school serving students in kindergarten through 12th grade to provide curricula on Black history beginning in the 2022-23 academic year. The effort would serve to educate all students on how Black people were treated throughout history in this country and examine the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and intolerance.
“Isolating Black history to 28 days does a great disservice to the countless Black Americans who have contributed to our nation throughout the past 400 years. Black history is American history, and if it is not taught, it can easily be forgotten,” said Rep. Dorsey Walker, D-Wilmington.
“When teaching the history of our nation, the achievements, challenges, contributions, struggles and triumphs of Black people should not be segregated, but be incorporated into the American story, just as they unfolded in history. By helping all students of all races to see Black people as integral to this nation, and by teaching what the full experience of being Black means, we can truly understand and really see each other.”
Under HB 198, the schools’ curricula would rely heavily on primary sourcing to receive a true perspective of the Black experience. Curricula would include:
- The history and culture of Black people prior to the African and Black Diaspora, including contributions to science, art, and literature.
- The significance of enslavement in the development of the American economy.
- The relationship between white supremacy, racism, and American slavery.
- The central role racism played in the Civil War.
- How the tragedy of enslavement was perpetuated through segregation and federal, state and local laws.
- The contributions of Black people to American life, history, literature, the economy, politics and culture.
- The socio-economic struggle Black people endured, and continue to experience, in working to achieve fair treatment in the United States; as well as the agency they employ in this work for equal treatment.
- Black figures in national history and in Delaware history.
“American history is a rich tapestry of interwoven narratives about the struggle and success of people from many ethnic, racial, cultural and religious backgrounds,” said Sen. Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman, D-Wilmington. “Sharing that history with our young people gives them an opportunity to express those many viewpoints – as emotionally painful and ideologically contradictory as they may sometimes feel. Only by acknowledging and embracing the full history of Americans and all of its people can we begin to heal the wounds of past sins and begin to move forward with a common understanding of who we are collectively.”
The bill would require curricula to recognize the impact of racial and historical trauma, while engaging students about the roles and responsibilities of all citizens to combat racism, inequality and discrimination through various means, such as protest, reform and celebration. The curricula also would teach about historical discrimination in Delaware, be designed to develop students’ respect for cultural and racial diversity, and provide opportunities for students to discuss and uplift the Black experience.
The Department of Education would consult with groups such as the NAACP, Africana studies programs at Delaware State University and University of Delaware, Delaware Heritage Commission, Delaware Black Student Coalition, Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League and Eastern Shore AFRAM in Seaford in developing resources to assist schools with crafting their curricula.
HB 198, which passed the House 33-7, heads to the Senate for consideration.
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