Black History is American History Act
Bill: H.R.1394 | Sponsor: Rep. Beatty, Joyce (D-OH)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Black History is American History Act
This bill requires entities (e.g., institutions of higher education, libraries, and museums), in order to be eligible for certain grants administered by the Department of Education (ED), to include Black history in their teaching of American history. It also requires Black history to be included in tests administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Specifically, the bill mandates the inclusion of Black history as a required component of American history for such entities to be eligible for American History and Civics Academies' competitive grants. These grants support the establishment of (1) Presidential Academies for Teachers of American History and Civics, which offer workshops to teachers of American history and civics to strengthen their knowledge and prepare them to teach in these subjects; and (2) Congressional Academies for Students of American History and Civics, which support high school students in developing an understanding of these subjects. (Currently, Black history is not a required component of American history for either academy.)
In addition, ED must give priority to grant applicants that align their activities with programs and resources of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The bill also requires the inclusion of Black history in tests administered by the NAEP, which measures student academic achievement in various subjects.

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,''.
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