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, institutionaliza-
tion, 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 his-
tory, 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 COLE-
MAN, 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 Mis-
sissippi, 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 im-
pact on all Americans, the exploration and expansion 
of America, impact on and contributions to the develop-
ment 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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Black History is Amer-
ican 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 em-
pires 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 sig-
nificant portion of the American population from 
nearly 20 percent at the signing of the Declaration 
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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-fif-
teenth 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 contin-
ued through Post-Reconstruction, Jim Crow, indus-
trialization, 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 vot-
ing 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 segrega-
tion of Black public-school students was no longer 
the law of the land. 
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(7) African Americans continue to fight dis-
crimination, 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 exam-
ining Black history. Since opening in 2016, the mu-
seum has worked to educate the public on the Amer-
ican story through the lens of African-American his-
tory and culture and provide educators, parents, 
caregivers, and students with tools and resources on 
the African-American experience, its national im-
pact, race, racism, and the importance of tolerance 
and inclusivity. 
(10) According to a 2015 research study con-
ducted by the National Museum of African Amer-
ican History and Culture and reported in Research 
into the State of African American History and Cul-
ture in K–12 Public Schools, key findings indicated 
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that teachers considered Black history as influential 
in understanding the complexity of United States 
history. 
(11) The importance of Black history is re-
flected 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 estab-
lished under Federal law, can assist teachers in ef-
forts 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 
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(B) by inserting ‘‘, which shall include 
Black history’’ after ‘‘traditional American his-
tory’’. 
(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 his-
tory’’; 
(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 in-
clude Black history,’’ after ‘‘teachers 
of American history’’; and 
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(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 Cul-
ture 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’’. 
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(c) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 2233 of the Ele-
mentary 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 As-
sessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 
U.S.C. 9622(b)(2)(D)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(which 
shall include Black history)’’ after ‘‘history,’’. 
Æ 
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