I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 703 

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 1, 2023 

Mrs. BEATTY (for herself, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. BROWN, 

Mr. SABLAN, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mr. 

AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. JOHNSON

of Georgia, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. IVEY, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. MFUME, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. MENG, Ms. 

BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. GREEN of 

Texas, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, 

Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mrs. SYKES, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the 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, 


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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) Since before its founding, the United States 

9 of America has benefited from and been enhanced by 

10 the integral role African Americans have played in 

11 our country’s history and contributions to the world. 

12 (2) African-American history does not begin in 

13 the Americas. It can be traced back to the great em14 pires of West Africa beginning in A.D. 790, which 

15 aided the establishment and survival of colonies in 

16 America and the New World, generally, and fought 

17 against European oppression. 

18 (3) African Americans have represented a sig19 nificant portion of the American population from 

20 nearly 20 percent at the signing of the Declaration 


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1 of Independence, almost all of whom, if not all, were 

2 victims of the largest forced deportations in recorded 

3 history, the transatlantic slave trade and resulting 

4 African diaspora. It is estimated over 10,000,000 

5 free Africans were enslaved between the mid-fif6 teenth and nineteenth centuries during the diaspora. 

7 (4) Slavery was not abolished and African 

8 Americans not acknowledged as American citizens 

9 until the mid-nineteenth century, servitude did not 

10 abate their contributions to the settlement, growth, 

11 and development of the United States, which contin12 ued through Post-Reconstruction, Jim Crow, indus13 trialization, World Wars and conflicts, innovation 

14 and inventiveness, constitutional progress, and every 

15 aspect of American society. 

16 (5) During the civil rights movement of the 

17 1950s and 1960s, civil rights leaders and activists 

18 championed the fight for equal rights, including vot19 ing rights, for all African Americans. 

20 (6) The seminal case of Brown v. Board of 

21 Education, decided May 17, 1954, found that the 

22 decades-old policy of separate but equal access to 

23 education was inherently unequal, and the segrega24 tion of Black public-school students was no longer 

25 the law of the land. 


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1 (7) African Americans continue to fight dis2 crimination, structural racism, economic inequities, 

3 and benign and overt omission of the integral role 

4 they played in our country’s rise to greatness. 

5 (8) A number of States have passed educational 

6 laws requiring Black history be incorporated into the 

7 curricula of all public schools. 

8 (9) Congress established the National Museum 

9 of African American History and Culture in 2003 

10 after decades of efforts to promote and highlight the 

11 contributions of African Americans, which serves as 

12 an indication of the national importance of exam13 ining Black history. Since opening in 2016, the mu14 seum has worked to educate the public on the Amer15 ican story through the lens of African-American his16 tory and culture and provide educators, parents, 

17 caregivers, and students with tools and resources on 

18 the African-American experience, its national im19 pact, race, racism, and the importance of tolerance 

20 and inclusivity. 

21 (10) According to a 2015 research study con22 ducted by the National Museum of African Amer23 ican History and Culture and reported in Research 

24 into the State of African American History and Cul25 ture in K–12 Public Schools, key findings indicated 


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1 that teachers considered Black history as influential 

2 in understanding the complexity of United States 

3 history. 

4 (11) The importance of Black history is re5 flected in the National Assessment of Educational 

6 Progress United States History framework, from 

7 pre-colonization through contemporary America. 

8 (12) The Federal Government, through support 

9 for educational activities of national museums estab10 lished under Federal law, can assist teachers in ef11 forts to incorporate historically accurate instruction 

12 on the comprehensive history of African Americans 

13 and students in their exploration of Black history as 

14 an integral part of American history. 

15 SEC. 3. AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS EDUCATION. 

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

17 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

18 U.S.C. 6661(a)) is amended— 

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

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

21 ‘‘American history’’; and 

22 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

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

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


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

2 Black history’’ after ‘‘traditional American his3 tory’’. 

4 (b) PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL ACADEMIES

5 FOR AMERICAN HISTORY AND CIVICS.—Section 2232 of 

6 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 6662) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

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

11 History’’; and 

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

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

14 History’’; 

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

16 shall include Black history,’’ after ‘‘American his17 tory’’; 

18 (3) in subsection (e)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

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

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

22 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 

23 (I) by inserting ‘‘, which shall in24 clude Black history,’’ after ‘‘teachers 

25 of American history’’; and 


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1 (II) by inserting ‘‘, which shall 

2 include Black history,’’ after ‘‘subjects 

3 of American history’’; and 

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

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

6 ‘‘American history’’; 

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

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

9 history’’; and 

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

11 with the Smithsonian Institution’s National 

12 Museum of African American History and Cul13 ture initiative providing programs and resources 

14 for educators and students’’ after ‘‘National 

15 Parks’’; and 

16 (4) in subsection (f)— 

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

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

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

20 which shall include Black history,’’ after 

21 ‘‘American history’’; and 

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

23 which shall include Black history,’’ after 

24 ‘‘American history’’. 


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1 (c) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 2233 of the Ele2 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

3 6663) is amended— 

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

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

6 and 

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

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

9 (d) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

10 PROGRESS.—Section 303(b)(2)(D) of the National As11 sessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 

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

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

Æ 


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