[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1394 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1394
To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible
entities to carry out educational programs that include the history of
peoples of African descent in the settling and founding of America, the
economic and political environments that led to the development,
institutionalization, and abolition of slavery and its impact on all
Americans, the exploration and expansion of America, impact on and
contributions to the development and enhancement of American life,
United States history, literature, the economy, politics, body of laws,
and culture, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 26, 2021
Mrs. Beatty (for herself, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Sablan, Mr.
Cooper, Mr. Suozzi, Mrs. Demings, Ms. Velazquez, Miss Rice of New York,
Mr. Evans, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. McGovern, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney
of New York, Ms. Houlahan, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Carson, Ms.
Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Rush, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Pressley,
Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Brown, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Kilmer,
Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Ms. DeGette, Ms. Barragan, Ms.
Clarke of New York, Ms. Bass, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Kelly of
Illinois, Mr. McNerney, Ms. Norton, Mr. Sires, Ms. Meng, Ms. Castor of
Florida, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Price of North
Carolina, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Horsford, and Ms. Ross) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible
entities to carry out educational programs that include the history of
peoples of African descent in the settling and founding of America, the
economic and political environments that led to the development,
institutionalization, and abolition of slavery and its impact on all
Americans, the exploration and expansion of America, impact on and
contributions to the development and enhancement of American life,
United States history, literature, the economy, politics, body of laws,
and culture, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Black History is American History
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Whereas since before its founding, the United States of
America has benefited from and been enhanced by the integral
role African Americans have played in our country's history and
contributions to the world.
(2) Whereas African American history does not begin in the
Americas. It can be traced back to the great empires of West
Africa beginning in A.D. 790, which aided the establishment and
survival of colonies in America and the New World, generally,
and fought against European oppression.
(3) Whereas African Americans have represented a
significant portion of the American population from nearly 20
percent at the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
almost all of whom, if not all, were victims of the largest
forced deportations in recorded history, the transatlantic
slave trade and resulting African diaspora. It is estimated
over 10,000,000 free Africans were enslaved between the mid-
fifteenth and nineteenth centuries during the diaspora.
(4) Whereas slavery was not abolished and African Americans
not acknowledged as American citizens until the mid-nineteenth
century, servitude did not abate their contributions to the
settlement, growth, and development of the United States, which
continued through Post-Reconstruction, Jim Crow,
industrialization, World Wars and conflicts, innovation and
inventiveness, constitutional progress, and every aspect of
American society.
(5) Whereas during the civil rights movement of the 1950s
and 1960s, civil rights leaders and activists championed the
fight for equal rights, including voting rights, for all
African Americans.
(6) Whereas the seminal case of Brown v. Board of
Education, decided May 17, 1954, found that the decades old
policy of separate but equal access to education was inherently
unequal, and the segregation of Black public-school students
was no longer the law of the land.
(7) Whereas African Americans continue to fight
discrimination, structural racism, economic inequities, and
benign and overt omission of the integral role they played in
our country's rise to greatness.
(8) Whereas currently, 12 States (Arkansas, California,
Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Michigan,
Mississippi, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Texas) have
passed educational laws requiring Black history be incorporated
into the curricula of all public schools.
(9) Whereas Congress established the National Museum of
African American History and Culture in 2003 after decades of
efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African
Americans, which serves as an indication of the national
importance of examining Black history. Since opening in 2016,
the museum has worked to educate the public on the American
story through the lens of African American history and culture
and provide educators, parents, caregivers, and students with
tools and resources on the African American experience, its
national impact, race, racism, and the importance of tolerance
and inclusivity.
(10) Whereas according to a 2015 research study conducted
by the National Museum of African American History and Culture
and reported in Research into the State of African American
History and Culture in K-12 Public Schools, key findings
indicated that teachers considered Black history as influential
in understanding the complexity of United States history.
(11) Whereas the importance of Black history is reflected
in the National Assessment of Educational Progress United
States History framework, from pre-colonization through
contemporary America.
(12) Whereas the Federal Government, through support for
educational activities of national museums established under
Federal law, can assist teachers in efforts to incorporate
historically accurate instruction on the comprehensive history
of African Americans and students in their exploration of Black
history as an integral part of American history.
SEC. 3. AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS EDUCATION.
(a) Program Authorized.--Section 2231(a) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6661(a)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ``,
which shall include Black history,'' after ``American
history''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by inserting ``which shall include Black
history,'' after ``American history,''; and
(B) by inserting ``, which shall include Black
history'' after ``traditional American history''.
(b) Presidential and Congressional Academies for American History
and Civics.--Section 2232 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6662) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``, which shall
include Black history,'' after ``American History'';
and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, which shall
include Black history,'' after ``American History'';
(2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ``, which shall
include Black history,'' after ``American history'';
(3) in subsection (e)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by inserting ``, which shall include
Black history,'' after ``American history'';
(ii) in subparagraph (A)--
(I) by inserting ``, which shall
include Black history,'' after
``teachers of American history''; and
(II) by inserting ``, which shall
include Black history,'' after
``subjects of American history''; and
(iii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``,
which shall include Black history,'' after
``American history'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, which shall
include Black history,'' after ``American history'';
and
(C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``, and with the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African
American History and Culture initiative providing
programs and resources for educators and students''
after ``National Parks''; and
(4) in subsection (f)--
(A) by inserting ``, which shall include Black
history,'' after ``American history'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, which
shall include Black history,'' after ``American
history''; and
(C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``, which
shall include Black history,'' after ``American
history''.
(c) National Activities.--Section 2233 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6663) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``which shall include
Black history,'' after ``American history,''; and
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting ``which shall include
Black history,'' after ``American history,''.
(d) National Assessment of Educational Progress.--Section
303(b)(2)(D) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress
Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)(2)(D)) is amended by inserting
``(which shall include Black history)'' after ``history,''.
<all>