[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 844 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 844
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
January 31, 2025
Mrs. Beatty (for herself, Ms. Adams, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Bishop, Ms.
Bonamici, Ms. Brown, Mr. Carson, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Castor of
Florida, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver,
Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Ms.
DeGette, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Evans of
Pennsylvania, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Mr. Frost, Mr.
Goldman of New York, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. Hayes, Mr.
Horsford, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Johnson of Georgia,
Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Kennedy of New York, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr.
Larsen of Washington, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Magaziner, Mrs. McBath, Mrs.
McIver, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Meng, Ms. Norton, Ms. Plaskett,
Ms. Pressley, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Strickland, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Thanedar, Mr.
Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms.
Underwood, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Waters, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Williams
of Georgia, and Ms. Wilson of Florida) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) A number of States have passed educational laws
requiring Black history be incorporated into the curricula of
all public schools.
(9) 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) 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) 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) 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,''.
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