Unveiling Florida’s New Black History Curriculum: New controversial requirements for the study of African American history in public classrooms in Florida have been approved. The revised standards require instruction on “how slaves developed skills that were sometimes applicable to their advantage.”
The new restrictions have been described by critics as “sanitised” and “a significant step backward.” The Florida education commissioner has denied that “the tougher subjects” will be avoided in the classroom.
Unveiling Florida’s New Black History Curriculum
Check out the following tweet from Vice President Kamala Harris– Extremists are advancing revisionist histories. They are attempting to gaslight us by insulting us, and we will not tolerate it.
The new guidelines are in response to a law passed last year that prohibits teaching that implies students are privileged or oppressed on the basis of their ethnicity. The rule is part of a larger effort to combat “woke indoctrination” in American schools, as described by Republican presidential candidate and Florida governor Ron DeSantis, 2024.
Wednesday, the Florida Board of Education approved the academic standards, which will be implemented from elementary school through high school.
The 216-page social studies textbook covers topics including the positive contributions of African Americans, the origins and consequences of slavery, and the struggles for equal rights throughout the history of the continent.
However, it also contains several modifications. Particularly, educators and civil rights organisations are concerned about two of these.
As students learn about the various occupations and professions that slaves held, slavery education must now emphasise how slaves’ labour “could in some cases be used to their advantage.”
Students should be made aware of the violence perpetrated “against and by African Americans” during discussions of the expansion and contraction of black communities during Reconstruction, including the 1921 Tulsa Massacre.
Mr. Spar argued that the curriculum changes constituted a form of “cheating” because they omitted crucial aspects of American history. The NAACP civil rights organisation asserted that the guidelines “convey a sanitised and dishonest telling of the history of slavery in America.”
The Florida Board of Education did not respond when requested for comment by the BBC. William Allen and Frances Presley Rice, members of the working group that established the new standards, said in a statement sent to Reuters on Thursday that the emphasis on talents was intended to demonstrate that slaves were not only victims.
Education Commissioner Manny Diaz previously defended the proposition, stating, “As age-appropriate, we cover some of the more difficult topics, including the beginnings of the slave trade, Jim Crow laws, the civil rights movement, and everything else that has occurred in our history.”
Despite their opposition, a number of educators and Democratic state legislators attended Wednesday’s board meeting and engaged in a contentious exchange with officials. Senator Geraldine Thompson, who formerly taught at institutions, remarked, “If I were still a professor, I’d have to grade this ‘I’ as incomplete.”
Florida Board of Education Greenlights New School Rules: Emotional Rollercoaster
