U.S. LAWMAKERS DIRECTING SCHOOLS TO EXPAND HISTORY CURRICULUMS
By Michael Gormley
The Associated Press
09/28/05 13:05 EDT
ALBANY, New York (AP) – State legislators across the United States
are increasingly directing their schools to teach students more about
the struggles and triumphs of different races and ethnic groups –
a move critics say amounts to politically correct meddling.
In the latest such example, a new commission in New York will examine
whether the “physical and psychological terrorism” against Africans in
the slave trade is being adequately taught in schools. The commission
is named for the slave ship Amistad, which was commandeered by slaves
who eventually won their freedom in the U.S.
Supreme Court.
The recommendations could mean rewriting textbooks, which may influence
educators in other states, according to the National Council for the
Social Studies.
A number of other U.S. states have enacted similar measures in the last
five years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Illinois also created an Amistad commission this year and added lessons
on the Holocaust, while New Mexico’s legislature required Indian
education lessons be bolstered in kindergarten through sixth grade.
In 2001, New Jersey created an Amistad commission and the Commission
on Italian and Americans of Italian Heritage Culture and Education
to advise policy makers.
California created Cesar Chavez Day – in memory of the Mexican American
labor leader – in 2000 and directed schools to include lessons about
the farm labor activist. That same year, Rhode Island directed schools
to teach about genocide and human rights violations including the
slave trade, the Irish potato famine, the Armenian genocide of the
early 1900s, the Holocaust and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s
fascist regime.
Virginia also directed schools that year to teach about the
accomplishments of people from different ethnic backgrounds and races,
women and disabled people.
But while most legislatures enact curriculum changes recommended by
education departments, teachers and researchers, New York’s Amistad
Commission is a case of the Legislature trying to circumvent the
state’s policy-setting Board of Regents.
“Slavery is the backbone on which this country was built,” said
Assemblyman Keith Wright, a New York City Democrat who wrote the
Amistad bill. “We haven’t even touched the tip of the iceberg in
terms of studying it … I have two children and I don’t think they
have studied the issue thoroughly.”
Critics say the goal of the commission is laudable but that teachers
already have limited time to teach American history. They also say
educators are needed on the panel to make sure its recommendations
are feasible.
The commission will include 19 unpaid members. Eight will be appointed
by the governor, and the rest will be picked by the state secretary
of state, the state education commissioner and the majority leaders
of the Legislature. Panelists need not be academics.
On the Net:
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National Council for the Social Studies: