
The major problem confronting the study of Black history is political interference; politicians force their interpretation of Black history on Black Americans. Florida education officials approved new standards for teaching Black history. Given Black history has been officially taught in American schools for close to fifty years, and unofficially since Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the “Father of Black History,” initiated the first celebration of Black history with the establishment of Negro History Week in 1926, one is left to wonder why the need for new standards for teaching a subject nearly one-hundred years old. This is not to say Black history curricula do not need new measures to guide content selection, curriculum mapping, teaching and learning activities, learning goals and targets, and setting reasonable expectations for what students can achieve at each grade level. Gov. DeSantis is using “standards” to pursue a political agenda.
The new standards for teaching Black history in Florida are an outgrowth of Gov. DeSantis’ belief that Black history as now taught “only presents half the story and half the truth.” According to the Florida Board of Education, the updated standards provide teachers of Black history “benchmark clarifications” to guide them on specific topics of instruction related to slavery and racial violence. For example, one of the more controversial “benchmark clarifications” provides teachers with a standard in which slavery is treated less as a racist, economically exploitative, labor-concentration camp, and more so as a job-training program whereby enslaved Black people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” In other words, chattel slavery is being recast as a “positive good”—once again—, as a benevolent institution that kept the enslaved fed, clothed and granted them access to job training.
In the context of Gov. DeSantis’ political historiography—the biases and falsification of history for political gain—the Florida Board of Education unanimously approved these new standards, which encompasses the 2022 Stop Woke Act’s belief that a person should not “feel guilt, anguish, or any other psychological distress” as result of learning Black history. A product of Gov. DeSantis’ functionary fight against what he calls left-wing indoctrination is protecting white children from the psychological stress of anti-white racism. Gov. DeSantis went even further in stating Black history is now taught and indoctrinates children to hate America under the guise of teaching the Black experience and Black history. The weaponization of Black history as anti-white and anti-American is consistent with Gov. DeSantis’ attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson played an unprecedented role in laying the foundation for the systematic and advanced study of Black history. No other individual contributed as much as Woodson to the development of Black history as an academic field of study. Woodson believed disseminating knowledge about Black history was paramount for the Black struggle for equality and for the elimination of racism in society. As an education theorist, he believed the starting point for the education of Black children was their own history and culture. His advocacy for the early exposure of children—all children—to the history and culture of Africa, African-descended people in the diaspora, and Black people in America was to refute the false allegations of Black historical and cultural inferiority. He believed race prejudice resulted from Whites’ belief that Black Americans had not contributed anything of worth to world history or to American history. He argued that if the historical record was taught accurately and inclusive of the contributions of Black Americans, not only would Black youth develop a sense of race pride and self-worth, but white children would gain respect and appreciation for Black American history and culture.
Let us go back for a moment to understand the purpose of founding Black history as an academic discipline. First, Black history was initially developed to correct the historical record pertaining to African and African ethnic groups, African-descended people in the diaspora, and Black Americans. Secondly, Black history aimed to psychologically empower Black youth by ridding textbooks of racist stereotypical narratives and images of Black people. And it is worth noting in 1922 – 101 years ago—Woodson published “The Negro in Our History”, the first major textbook on Black American history as a counter-narrative to mainstream textbooks that omitted, distorted, and misrepresented Black experiences and Black history.
Gov. DeSantis and the Florida Board of Education have provided political and ideological evidence for our concern with politicizing educational standards to reconstruct Black history in ways that misrepresent Black American enslavement for white consumption. Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of the concept of “benevolent slavery,” first articulated by the seventh Vice-President of the United States, John C. Calhoun, who believed slavery was a positive good for an inferior race. Secondly, the study of Black history cannot merely celebrate great men and women who struggled on behalf of Black American progress. New standards in teaching Black history must be grounded in sociohistorical-political standards aimed at exploring and critiquing historical and contemporary power relations impacting Black communities.
We must reject false and injurious information disguised as pedagogically sound educational standards. Black history is not a fairytale that can be erroneously rewritten and reinterpreted to suit Gov. DeSantis’ political agenda. As we reflect on the new standards approved by the Florida Board of Education, we will realize a direct relationship exists between the new standards for teaching Black history and Gov. DeSantis’ ideological war on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The new Florida standards for Black history not only serve to repress the truth regarding the racist economic exploitation of the enslaved but also to promote the anti-woke agenda of Gov. DeSantis and his supporters. Therefore, truthful, accurate Black history continues to serve as a correction of American history and a framework for understanding and critiquing race-based power relations.
Dr. Faisal enjoys a fulfilling spiritual and family life with his wife, Christie, and their daughter Gabrielle. He is passionate about servant leadership and preparing students from underserved communities for college success. The motto “Excellence is Our Norm” summarizes his belief that all students can achieve academic and social success with appropriate investment –not intervention. He has written two books, one on fatherhood and the other on the servant leadership philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is currently finishing a book on the life and legacy of Cornelius L. Henderson, an African American chief design engineer for the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnels. Dr. Faisal’s hobbies include bike riding and sports, researching African American history; writing for the Michigan Historical Society; collecting vintage college memorabilia and literature; collecting memorabilia from the Negro Leagues and Black Fives era; and visiting museums, book stores, cultural centers, and historical sites.
The new standards for teaching Black history in Florida are an outgrowth of Gov. DeSantis’ belief that Black history as now taught “only presents half the story and half the truth.” According to the Florida Board of Education, the updated standards provide teachers of Black history “benchmark clarifications” to guide them on specific topics of instruction related to slavery and racial violence. For example, one of the more controversial “benchmark clarifications” provides teachers with a standard in which slavery is treated less as a racist, economically exploitative, labor-concentration camp, and more so as a job-training program whereby enslaved Black people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” In other words, chattel slavery is being recast as a “positive good”—once again—, as a benevolent institution that kept the enslaved fed, clothed and granted them access to job training.
In the context of Gov. DeSantis’ political historiography—the biases and falsification of history for political gain—the Florida Board of Education unanimously approved these new standards, which encompasses the 2022 Stop Woke Act’s belief that a person should not “feel guilt, anguish, or any other psychological distress” as result of learning Black history. A product of Gov. DeSantis’ functionary fight against what he calls left-wing indoctrination is protecting white children from the psychological stress of anti-white racism. Gov. DeSantis went even further in stating Black history is now taught and indoctrinates children to hate America under the guise of teaching the Black experience and Black history. The weaponization of Black history as anti-white and anti-American is consistent with Gov. DeSantis’ attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
Dr. Carter G. Woodson played an unprecedented role in laying the foundation for the systematic and advanced study of Black history. No other individual contributed as much as Woodson to the development of Black history as an academic field of study. Woodson believed disseminating knowledge about Black history was paramount for the Black struggle for equality and for the elimination of racism in society. As an education theorist, he believed the starting point for the education of Black children was their own history and culture. His advocacy for the early exposure of children—all children—to the history and culture of Africa, African-descended people in the diaspora, and Black people in America was to refute the false allegations of Black historical and cultural inferiority. He believed race prejudice resulted from Whites’ belief that Black Americans had not contributed anything of worth to world history or to American history. He argued that if the historical record was taught accurately and inclusive of the contributions of Black Americans, not only would Black youth develop a sense of race pride and self-worth, but white children would gain respect and appreciation for Black American history and culture.
Let us go back for a moment to understand the purpose of founding Black history as an academic discipline. First, Black history was initially developed to correct the historical record pertaining to African and African ethnic groups, African-descended people in the diaspora, and Black Americans. Secondly, Black history aimed to psychologically empower Black youth by ridding textbooks of racist stereotypical narratives and images of Black people. And it is worth noting in 1922 – 101 years ago—Woodson published “The Negro in Our History”, the first major textbook on Black American history as a counter-narrative to mainstream textbooks that omitted, distorted, and misrepresented Black experiences and Black history.
Gov. DeSantis and the Florida Board of Education have provided political and ideological evidence for our concern with politicizing educational standards to reconstruct Black history in ways that misrepresent Black American enslavement for white consumption. Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of the concept of “benevolent slavery,” first articulated by the seventh Vice-President of the United States, John C. Calhoun, who believed slavery was a positive good for an inferior race. Secondly, the study of Black history cannot merely celebrate great men and women who struggled on behalf of Black American progress. New standards in teaching Black history must be grounded in sociohistorical-political standards aimed at exploring and critiquing historical and contemporary power relations impacting Black communities.
We must reject false and injurious information disguised as pedagogically sound educational standards. Black history is not a fairytale that can be erroneously rewritten and reinterpreted to suit Gov. DeSantis’ political agenda. As we reflect on the new standards approved by the Florida Board of Education, we will realize a direct relationship exists between the new standards for teaching Black history and Gov. DeSantis’ ideological war on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The new Florida standards for Black history not only serve to repress the truth regarding the racist economic exploitation of the enslaved but also to promote the anti-woke agenda of Gov. DeSantis and his supporters. Therefore, truthful, accurate Black history continues to serve as a correction of American history and a framework for understanding and critiquing race-based power relations.
Dr. Faisal enjoys a fulfilling spiritual and family life with his wife, Christie, and their daughter Gabrielle. He is passionate about servant leadership and preparing students from underserved communities for college success. The motto “Excellence is Our Norm” summarizes his belief that all students can achieve academic and social success with appropriate investment –not intervention. He has written two books, one on fatherhood and the other on the servant leadership philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is currently finishing a book on the life and legacy of Cornelius L. Henderson, an African American chief design engineer for the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnels. Dr. Faisal’s hobbies include bike riding and sports, researching African American history; writing for the Michigan Historical Society; collecting vintage college memorabilia and literature; collecting memorabilia from the Negro Leagues and Black Fives era; and visiting museums, book stores, cultural centers, and historical sites.