John,

Florida’s Board of Education just approved new Black history standards to teach public school students that enslaved Black people benefited from slavery. This is disgusting white supremacy, and we cannot allow it.

In response to this and other attempts to censor discussions of racism in schools, we must urgently pass policies to teach the truth.

Rep. Al Green’s Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution denounces the institution of slavery while commemorating the millions of people who were stolen from Africa and sold as property. It calls for an annual Slavery Remembrance Day on August 20, marking the first day that enslaved Africans arrived in the United States in 1619.

If passed, Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s African American History Act would invest $10 million over 5 years in the National Museum of African American History and Culture to support African American history education programs that are voluntarily available for students, parents, and educators.

Please sign on today to support the African American History Act and the Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution.

In solidarity,

Rashida

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Rashida Tlaib
Date: Mon, Aug 14, 2023
Subject: Teaching Black history and the truth about slavery [signatures needed]
To: [email protected]

John,

Florida’s Board of Education just approved new Black history standards to teach public school students that enslaved Black people benefited from slavery.

This is disgusting and enables white supremacy. Slavery was a cruel, inhumane, violent practice that denied Black people their basic human dignity. Many of the founding fathers owned human beings, and the legacy of slavery continues today, with discriminatory laws and a widening racial wealth and health gap.

I’ve cosponsored two important bills to teach the truth about our nation’s history: Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s African American History Act to support the development of accurate, relevant, and accessible African American history resources, and Rep. Al Green’s Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution to promote education about the history of slavery in America.

Please sign on today to support the African American History Act and the Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution, as we face right-wing attempts across the country to whitewash Black history.

We cannot learn from our past if our past is no longer being taught. But in the past few years, efforts in 44 states have tried to limit education about race and systemic inequities.

We must learn from and teach the truth about our past—and how it informs our present. Centuries of disinvestment in Black communities, and systemic racism in our institutions, have led to continually widening inequities. Today, Black households only have a fraction of the wealth that white households have, which is crucial for surviving and thriving.

In order to build a multiracial democracy where our government protects our equal rights, we must reckon with racism and challenge white supremacy.

If passed, Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s African American History Act would invest $10 million over 5 years in the National Museum of African American History and Culture to support African American history education programs that are voluntarily available for students, parents, and educators.

When introducing the bill, Bowman noted: “The moment we are in requires a clear-eyed effort to ensure that everyone has access to resources and education that accurately recount African American history – including how the Black struggle for freedom has strengthened our society for all Americans and brought us closer to realizing the potential of our democracy.”

Rep. Al Green’s Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution denounces the institution of slavery while commemorating the millions of people who were stolen from Africa and sold as property. It calls for an annual Slavery Remembrance Day on August 20, marking the first day that enslaved Africans arrived in the United States in 1619.

Green said: “It is our moral imperative to ensure future generations understand the full weight of slavery and grasp its modern-day implications… Slavery is the root cause of the current social standing of Black people in the United States.”

We must urgently pass these two bills in response to right-wing attempts at censorship. You cannot teach the truth about American history without African American history, and we will not allow anyone to rewrite Black history.

Please sign on today to support the African American History Act and the Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution.

Together, let’s keep telling the truth and calling for justice.

In solidarity,

Rashida