Teach kids Malcolm X, city urged
EVERY NEW YORK school student should learn about Malcolm X and other black history figures in mandatory African-Americans studies, a group of elected officials and school advocates says.
The massive push for a bill that will require black studies in all state schools follows several troubling incidents in which educators have been told not to teach about the Harlem Renaissance — and people in blackface were used on a Brooklyn PTA’s advertisement for a 1920s-themed fund-raiser.
A rally set for Wednesday (poster, inset) at the Dr. Betty Shabazz School on Watkins St. in Brownsville, Brooklyn, will call on state legislators to require black history studies in every school and at all grade levels.
“In the climate we are in, we need this bill like never before,” said the Rev. Kevin McCall of the National Action Network, who’s leading the charge with state Sen. Jesse Hamilton (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Diana Richardson (D-Brooklyn).
Also in attendance will be Christ the King High School student Malcolm Xavier Combs (photo below), 17, a Queens senior who made headlines after an assistant principal at his school rejected a request to print his first name and middle initial on a school sweater.
During the same week, Mercedes Liriano-Clark, an English teacher at Intermediate School 224 in the Bronx said she was told by Principal Patricia Catania not to teach her students about the Harlem Renaissance and abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass.
The week ended with a PTA president of Public School 118 in Park Slope apologizing for using an image of people in black face to advertise a 1920sthemed fund-raiser.
The News’ exclusive reporting of these events prompted a slew of protests around the city — and at City Hall.
The new legislation’s goal is to amend the Amistad Commission — introduced in 2005 to review state curriculum regarding the slave trade — to include not only prominent AfricanAmericans, but also other groups that contributed to U.S. history.
“We must build an education system that embraces the inescapable truth that tomorrow’s America will be even more diverse,” said Hamilton. Jacob Morris, director of the city’s Freedom Trail, is also behind the legislation, and is demanding a “functioning” Amistad Commission.
“The black history bill will create change and confidence in our youth by providing role models outside of sports and entertainment. I commend Sen. Hamilton and Assemblywoman Richardson,” said McCall.
Rules for curriculum are decided by the state. City schools currently employ a number of recommended lessons for black history. And while no specific lessons are mandated, teachers in any discipline can include the topic in their classes.
City Education Department spokesman Will Mantell said the public schools blend black history lessons into a number of subjects and also offer teacher training on the topic.
“Black history is thoroughly integrated into . . . social studies teaching through our K-12 Social Studies Scope and Sequence and our new Passport to Social Studies curriculum,” Mantell said.