I 

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. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 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. BARRAGA ́N, 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 


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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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Black History is Amer5 ican History Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Whereas since before its founding, the 

9 United States of America has benefited from and 

10 been enhanced by the integral role African Ameri11 cans have played in our country’s history and con12 tributions to the world. 

13 (2) Whereas African American history does not 

14 begin in the Americas. It can be traced back to the 

15 great empires of West Africa beginning in A.D. 790, 

16 which aided the establishment and survival of colo17 nies in America and the New World, generally, and 

18 fought against European oppression. 


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1 (3) Whereas African Americans have rep2 resented a significant portion of the American popu3 lation from nearly 20 percent at the signing of the 

4 Declaration of Independence, almost all of whom, if 

5 not all, were victims of the largest forced deporta6 tions in recorded history, the transatlantic slave 

7 trade and resulting African diaspora. It is estimated 

8 over 10,000,000 free Africans were enslaved between 

9 the mid-fifteenth and nineteenth centuries during 

10 the diaspora. 

11 (4) Whereas slavery was not abolished and Afri12 can Americans not acknowledged as American citi13 zens until the mid-nineteenth century, servitude did 

14 not abate their contributions to the settlement, 

15 growth, and development of the United States, 

16 which continued through Post-Reconstruction, Jim 

17 Crow, industrialization, World Wars and conflicts, 

18 innovation and inventiveness, constitutional 

19 progress, and every aspect of American society. 

20 (5) Whereas during the civil rights movement of 

21 the 1950s and 1960s, civil rights leaders and activ22 ists championed the fight for equal rights, including 

23 voting rights, for all African Americans. 

24 (6) Whereas the seminal case of Brown v. 

25 Board of Education, decided May 17, 1954, found 


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1 that the decades old policy of separate but equal ac2 cess to education was inherently unequal, and the 

3 segregation of Black public-school students was no 

4 longer the law of the land. 

5 (7) Whereas African Americans continue to 

6 fight discrimination, structural racism, economic in7 equities, and benign and overt omission of the inte8 gral role they played in our country’s rise to great9 ness. 

10 (8) Whereas currently, 12 States (Arkansas, 

11 California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, 

12 New York, Michigan, Mississippi, Rhode Island, 

13 South Carolina, and Texas) have passed educational 

14 laws requiring Black history be incorporated into the 

15 curricula of all public schools. 

16 (9) Whereas Congress established the National 

17 Museum of African American History and Culture 

18 in 2003 after decades of efforts to promote and 

19 highlight the contributions of African Americans, 

20 which serves as an indication of the national impor21 tance of examining Black history. Since opening in 

22 2016, the museum has worked to educate the public 

23 on the American story through the lens of African 

24 American history and culture and provide educators, 

25 parents, caregivers, and students with tools and reVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Mar 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1394.IH H1394

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1 sources on the African American experience, its na2 tional impact, race, racism, and the importance of 

3 tolerance and inclusivity. 

4 (10) Whereas according to a 2015 research 

5 study conducted by the National Museum of African 

6 American History and Culture and reported in Re7 search into the State of African American History 

8 and Culture in K–12 Public Schools, key findings in9 dicated that teachers considered Black history as in10 fluential in understanding the complexity of United 

11 States history. 

12 (11) Whereas the importance of Black history 

13 is reflected in the National Assessment of Edu14 cational Progress United States History framework, 

15 from pre-colonization through contemporary Amer16 ica. 

17 (12) Whereas the Federal Government, through 

18 support for educational activities of national muse19 ums established under Federal law, can assist teach20 ers in efforts to incorporate historically accurate in21 struction on the comprehensive history of African 

22 Americans and students in their exploration of Black 

23 history as an integral part of American history. 


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1 SEC. 3. AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS EDUCATION. 

2 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Section 2231(a) of the 

3 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 6661(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

6 inserting ‘‘, which shall include Black history,’’ after 

7 ‘‘American history’’; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘which shall include Black 

10 history,’’ after ‘‘American history,’’; and 

11 (B) by inserting ‘‘, which shall include 

12 Black history’’ after ‘‘traditional American his13 tory’’. 

14 (b) PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL ACADEMIES

15 FOR AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS.—Section 2232 of 

16 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

17 U.S.C. 6662) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, which 

20 shall include Black history,’’ after ‘‘American 

21 History’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, which 

23 shall include Black history,’’ after ‘‘American 

24 History’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘, which 

2 shall include Black history,’’ after ‘‘American his3 tory’’; 

4 (3) in subsection (e)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

6 (i) by inserting ‘‘, which shall include 

7 Black history,’’ after ‘‘American history’’; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 

9 (I) by inserting ‘‘, which shall in10 clude Black history,’’ after ‘‘teachers 

11 of American history’’; and 

12 (II) by inserting ‘‘, which shall 

13 include Black history,’’ after ‘‘subjects 

14 of American history’’; and 

15 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

16 ‘‘, which shall include Black history,’’ after 

17 ‘‘American history’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, which 

19 shall include Black history,’’ after ‘‘American 

20 history’’; and 

21 (C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, and 

22 with the Smithsonian Institution’s National 

23 Museum of African American History and Cul24 ture initiative providing programs and resources 


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1 for educators and students’’ after ‘‘National 

2 Parks’’; and 

3 (4) in subsection (f)— 

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘, which shall include 

5 Black history,’’ after ‘‘American history’’; 

6 (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, 

7 which shall include Black history,’’ after 

8 ‘‘American history’’; and 

9 (C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 

10 which shall include Black history,’’ after 

11 ‘‘American history’’. 

12 (c) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 2233 of the Ele13 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

14 6663) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘which shall 

16 include Black history,’’ after ‘‘American history,’’; 

17 and 

18 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘which shall 

19 include Black history,’’ after ‘‘American history,’’. 

20 (d) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

21 PROGRESS.—Section 303(b)(2)(D) of the National As22 sessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 

23 U.S.C. 9622(b)(2)(D)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(which 

24 shall include Black history)’’ after ‘‘history,’’. 

Æ 


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