Imagine you were visible only one month a year
Dear Leading Ladies,
February is Black History Month. Its roots are in Negro History Week, first sponsored in 1926 by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization founded by Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland to research and promote achievements by Black Americans and other people of African descent.
The celebration expanded in popularity as the decades moved on, ignited in part by the Civil Rights Movement. In 1976, President Gerald Ford recognized a national Black History Month and encouraged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
The establishment of both Negro History Week and Black History Month were well-intentioned efforts to fill the enormous void in our educational and cultural systems. And, indeed, the commemorations helped. And they continue to provide points of pride for young and old, celebrations of excellence and tradition that all people need and deserve. But let’s be clear. Isn’t it time to acknowledge that the contributions and accomplishments of Black Americans do not fit into just one week or month?
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Can’t we just teach the truth?
Instead, we seem to be going backwards. Now, when it seems far beyond time for the curricula in our schools to include all Americans – and not just those who are white and whose ancestors hailed from northern Europe – there is pressure to censor anew the history that is taught in our schools.
For example,
According to researcher Jeffrey Sachs, as reported on NPR, “35 states have introduced 137 bills limiting what schools can teach with regard to race, American history, politics, sexual orientation and gender identity” since January 2021.
This, Sachs says, creates a “minefield” for teachers who want to tackle the subjects of slavery, Jim Crow laws, or the Holocaust.
A North Dakota law that hamstrings teachers forbids teaching that racism is systemic or embedded in American society, and allows teaching only that racism is an individual bias or point of view.
Likewise, right next door to us in New Hampshire, Governor Chris Sununu signed a bill last July that said no public employee could teach that people of any particular race or gender were “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive.”
In Virginia, where the previous governor, Ralph Northam, created the African American History Education Commission to correct misinformation being taught and to introduce fuller pictures of Black leaders in a variety of fields, the new governor, Glenn Youngkin, is swiftly rolling back these initiatives.
And in Alabama, officials have even received complaints from some parents that celebrating Black History Month constitutes the teaching of critical race theory.
Good news
Luckily, there is some good news.
Connecticut implemented a law in December of 2020 that requires all high schools to offer courses on Black and Latino history. Some have criticized this initiative, saying the course should be required rather than elective, so that all students could benefit from the information and perspective offered in these classes. Still, it is progress.
And, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, they have taken that next step. High school students are now required to take a course in Black history in order to graduate. Moreover, student activists, motivated by the George Floyd killing and frustrated by lessons that traditionally only spoke of slavery, emancipation, and the civil rights movement, pushed for the required course to include such topics as the Mali and Ghanian empires, Black Wall Street, and the Harlem Renaissance.
In fact, much of the change is being championed by students nationally, including in Nebraska, Vermont, and right here in Massachusetts. "The education system is where people form values other than what their parents have," Omaha high school student Vanessa Amoah told the Washington Post in 2020. "George Floyd, Philando Castile — none of it would have happened if this country worked on proactively teaching anti-racist values."
What can we do?
Call your school department and ask what the local schools are doing to teach Black history. Are Black history courses offered as electives or required? Are they integrating the accomplishments and contributions of Black people into all classes – literature, history, science, mathematics, and art? If not, ask, why not? Ask if there is a curriculum committee. If so, volunteer to serve. Consider running for school committee. Share information from this letter with your colleagues, family, and friends. As always, make some noise.
Of course, education doesn’t stop in school. Let us know if you have recently read a great book by a Black author who is new to you – one that informed and/or amused you, moved and/or challenged you. We’ll share the suggestions we get in next week’s newsletter. We suggest The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead, and The Warmth of Other Suns or Caste by Isabel WIlkerson.
Always with hope,
Therese
Judy
Mary
Beth
Leading Ladies Executive Team
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org
leadingladiesvote.org