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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 08 February 2023

Created: 08 February 2023

Last Updated: 01 June 2023

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Congressman Jamaal Bowman who represents the 16th district, including Scarsdale, has stepped into the debate around the College Board curriculum for a high school AP course in African American Studies.

On February 1, 2023 the College Board released a revised curriculum for the course that omits coverage of sensitive issues such as critical race theory, the queer experience and Black feminism. It also removed secondary sources, theorists and analysts, saying that these were “quite dense” and that students connected better with primary sources.

Critics contend that the College Board made these changes in response to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who said he would ban the curriculum from Florida schools as it was not historically accurate and violated state laws.

However, David Coleman from the College Board said that the changes were made before DeSantis spoke out and were based on feedback from professors from an initial test of the course.

Whatever the reason, Congressman Bowman objects to the decision and made the following statement and has also introduced legislation cosponsored by Senator Corey Booker to reintroduce the African American History Act which would invest $10 million over five years in the National Museum of African American History and Culture to support African American history education programs that are voluntarily available for students, parents and educators.

Congressman Bowman’s Statement

“The College Board’s decision to surrender to the political pressure of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and water down AP African American Studies has serious national implications,” said Congressman Jamaal Bowman Ed.D (NY-16). “To remove some of the most rigorous and historically significant Black history and scholarship from millions of students across the country is a crime against education and democracy. Truthful public education is the single best investment we can make as a country to build prosperous, healthy and equitable societies however, the College Board has shown us yet again that their interest is in sustaining and increasing profits and not in providing an ethical, insightful, and comprehensive curriculum that meets the needs of all students.”

“African American studies is critical to ensuring all students feel seen in their educational experiences, and is fundamental to our ability to address ongoing injustices and improve our society for all people. Because of the College Board’s decision to acquiesce to fear, students all over the country will now not have access to African American literature from prolific authors that have shaped American life. To deliberately strip our children of the opportunity to build a better future for the next generation is a recipe for disaster for this country and the world. African American history is American history. Removing any part of African American history in any curriculum removes a critical lifeline of America.”

African American History Act

Congressman Jamaal Bowman Ed.D (NY-16) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) reintroduced the African American History Act in both the House and the Senate and urged leaders across the nation to tell the truth about the United States’ history of racism and white supremacy. The bill has been reintroduced with over 100 original co-sponsors in the House.

“It is our moral imperative to tell the truth about our past to finally reconcile with this nation’s history of racism and white nationalism, and our legislation will serve as a vital component in our fight to do just that,” said Congressman Jamaal Bowman Ed.D (NY-16). “The truth is under attack by white supremacists attempting to ban Black history at all levels of education, but we know that a democracy cannot exist without access to truth. As a Black man and an educator, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for this nation to collectively commit to learning from our past. Senator Booker’s and my legislation invests $10 million over 5 years to support African American history education programs that will be available for students, parents, and teachers. The moment we are in requires a clear-eyed effort to ensure that everyone has access to resources and education that accurately recount African American history – including how the Black struggle for freedom has strengthened our society for all Americans and brought us closer to realizing the potential of our democracy.”

“The story of Black people in America is inextricably linked to the story of America. The fullness of this rich history must be told -- both its dark chapters and the light brought by generations of people determined to overcome and make our country better through an ongoing quest for justice,” said Senator Booker. “We have seen this happen far too many times throughout history – where some dismiss our important stories and intentionally change the way history is told to fit political agendas. As we begin Black History Month, I am proud to reintroduce this legislation that will invest in initiatives to make African American history education programs more accessible to the public, help educators incorporate these programs into their curriculum, and develop additional resources focused on Black History for students and families to engage with.”

A multiracial democracy that ensures the social, economic, and political rights of all in the United States requires reconciling with American history and America’s original sin of slavery and white supremacy. In order to reconcile together as a nation, it’s critical that there are opportunities and dedicated resources for truth-telling.

Rep. Bowman’s and Senator Booker’s African American History Act invests $10 million over 5 years in the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to support African American history education programs that are voluntarily available for students, parents, and educators.
This bill will help the NMAAHC expand and improve upon their work in a variety of ways, including:

-Developing and maintaining a variety of accessible resources to promote an understanding of African American history. This includes a collection of digital content, housed on the NMAAHC website, to assist educators, students, and families across the country in teaching about and engaging with African American history
-Engaging with the public through programming, resources, and social media to increase awareness of African American history through a social justice and anti-bias lens
-Convening experts and creating and disseminating scholarly work
-Translating new and existing NMAAHC work into multiple languages

Further, the bill supports the NMAAHC’s work to increase national capacity for African American history education, including:

-Developing and disseminating high quality pedagogy related to teaching African American history
-Providing opportunities for Professional Development for early childhood, elementary, and secondary teachers
-Designing and implementing a teacher fellowship program
-Engaging with local and state leaders interested in incorporating these resources in curricula

“Kids need access to age-appropriate, honest lessons about this country’s history — its successes, its struggles, and its failures,” said Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers. “These malicious, politically-motivated efforts thwart our efforts to have children think critically, expand their perspectives, and prepare them for whatever comes next. This bill will help our kids have a thorough understanding of the history and contributions of African Americans. We support Rep. Bowman and Sen. Booker in ensuring our kids have the right to learn, the right to think for themselves, and the right to information.”

“The American Psychological Association applauds Congressman Bowman for introducing the African American History Act, which would provide funding for increased resources, technical support, professional development, and dissemination of research and teaching materials related to African American History,” said Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD, CEO of the American Psychological Association. “An accurate teaching of history is not only vital to our development and well-being as individuals, but also as a nation. Understanding our past provides the ability to make systemic improvements to the lives of all of our citizens, including by eradicating disparities in educational attainment, socio-economic status, and healthcare outcomes.”

“In a time when the threats to our freedoms are being attacked in manners not seen in decades, there is but one grounder, history,” said Mondale Robinson, Founder of the Black Male Voter Project. “An unmolested history that accounts all of America’s past events, and most particularly in human affairs is mandated to comprehend both where we are and how we got here. Which requires a robust commitment to any teachings that shade in unfinished learnings of said affairs. And for this very reason I stand one-hundred percent behind, beside and in defense of Rep. Bowman’s re-introduction of the African-American History Act, for it is the missing anthology of this country and brings us all closer to a fuller appreciation of America’s historical scholarship.”