Legislators Propose Punishing Schools for Teaching Black History

I grew up in and attended school in rural Southeast Arkansas in the ’80s and ’90s. Overall, I had a great educational experience, but a third-grade experience changed my life forever.

My third-grade teacher asked the class to open our textbooks. I turned to the page she asked us to, and the topic was Black history. To my surprise, on the page was a small, black and white pencil drawing of scantily dressed Black people who were supposed to be slaves. The extent of our Black history discussion was slavery. I felt upset and embarrassed because I already knew that Black history included more than slavery.

I grew up in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, where we celebrate Black history. By the third grade, I’d already learned about Richard and Sarah Allen, I’d belted out “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and I’d already memorized “I, Too” by Langston Hughes thanks to church leaders.

In addition to my church lessons, my parents taught my sister, brother, and me about Black history. Our family even had a set of The International Library of Negro Life and History encyclopedias that we regularly read. Thankfully, my parents gifted these encyclopedias to me, and I still read them.

What I learned that day in that third-grade class was contradictory to what I’d already…