2020-07-11 12:58:00 -0700
To: Georgia Legislators, Governor Kemp, and the State Superintendent
Racial Justice in Georgia Education
We ask that the Georgia Department of Education:
1. Add a required African American Studies course to all Georgia Schools that covers the history, culture, and accomplishments of African Americans.
2. Review history curriculum of the required 8th grade Georgia Studies course and the U.S. History course; work with educators, students, and community leaders to evolve curriculum to include comprehensive education around Black contributions to society and impacts of systemic racism.
3. Work with educators, students, and community leaders to review suggested literature that supports the standards to ensure Black and minority authors are required to be used in courses of study and represented appropriately.
1. Add a required African American Studies course to all Georgia Schools that covers the history, culture, and accomplishments of African Americans.
2. Review history curriculum of the required 8th grade Georgia Studies course and the U.S. History course; work with educators, students, and community leaders to evolve curriculum to include comprehensive education around Black contributions to society and impacts of systemic racism.
3. Work with educators, students, and community leaders to review suggested literature that supports the standards to ensure Black and minority authors are required to be used in courses of study and represented appropriately.
Why is this important?
As an educator, it is detrimental to teach a curriculum that is heavily focused on the accomplishments of men who were White supremacists but not include the many accomplishments of Black Georgians as essential. It is demeaning and dehumanizing to the 640,000 Black students in Georgia’s classrooms. As a parent of children who attended schools in Georgia, it is disheartening to know that my children could only recount three novels authored by African Americans that were used in the classroom. Much of their knowledge of the contributions of Blacks came from Google, social media, and other sources outside the classroom. The state of Georgia cannot continue to teach a curriculum that is heavily Eurocentric. Recent events have demonstrated the lack of education surrounding the Black experience in the United States and the need for it to be addressed by schools. For example, most people had no knowledge of the Tulsa Massacre or Juneteenth. These and other major events that involve people of color are not reflected in what is taught.
The history curriculum taught in Georgia largely excludes the history of the 640,000 Black students in the state, which represent the largest minority group served. The 8th grade Georgia Studies curriculum has many resources and standards that focus on White supremacists, yet is lacking in Black representation that is not centered around slavery or the Civil Rights Movement. There is no required inclusion of Blacks in literature classes to support the ELA standards in the curriculum. In addition, Georgia does not offer in all schools a comprehensive course on the history of African Americans that would serve to expose students to the many contributions of Black Americans.
The inclusion of Blacks within the curriculum is essential to the development of well educated, productive, and antiracist children. Georgia is doing an injustice not only to students of color, but all students by not educating them on the history, culture, and contributions of Black Americans.
The history curriculum taught in Georgia largely excludes the history of the 640,000 Black students in the state, which represent the largest minority group served. The 8th grade Georgia Studies curriculum has many resources and standards that focus on White supremacists, yet is lacking in Black representation that is not centered around slavery or the Civil Rights Movement. There is no required inclusion of Blacks in literature classes to support the ELA standards in the curriculum. In addition, Georgia does not offer in all schools a comprehensive course on the history of African Americans that would serve to expose students to the many contributions of Black Americans.
The inclusion of Blacks within the curriculum is essential to the development of well educated, productive, and antiracist children. Georgia is doing an injustice not only to students of color, but all students by not educating them on the history, culture, and contributions of Black Americans.
How it will be delivered
We plan to deliver the petition signatures via email and the press.