African American studies course could be coming to Texas high schools

Public high schools in Texas could start offering a course in African American studies as early as next school year.

The State Board of Education on Wednesday indicated support for approving the elective course by April. The panel is considering modeling the curriculum after the African American studies course offered in the Dallas school district. Possible curriculum topics include the histories of Africans who were brought to America as slaves, the institution of slavery and the anti-slavery movement leading up to the Emancipation Proclamation, civil rights struggles and the contributions of such African Americans as Barbara Jordan, Condoleezza Rice and Barack Obama.

“All the African American ethnic studies course is attempting to achieve is complete the narrative of United States history,” Taylor Ellingberg-McLeod, a junior at Dallas’ Trinidad Garza Early College High School, told the 15-member board on Wednesday. “In 12 weeks … I’ve also learned about over 60 African Americans that made great contributions to America from 1619 to 1960. …Without my ancestors, who knows where America would be today?”

Ellingberg-McLeod was among more than 50 people — including other high school students, teachers, activists and scholars — who signed up to speak at Wednesday’s meeting in support of the course.

Board members anticipate tentatively approving the course in January and then adopting it in April, so the course can be offered in the 2020-21 school year. It will be offered as an elective and won’t be required for all high school students.

The Republican-led education board last year adopted a Mexican American studies elective course for high school students.

The board also is considering implementing elective courses in Native American studies, Latino studies and Asian Pacific Islander studies.

Supporters told board members that required American history classes in Texas public schools don’t cover in sufficient depth the histories, cultures and contributions of African Americans. A dedicated course would allow African American students to see more of their identities reflected in a course, supporters said. They cited studies that have shown that ethnic studies in other parts of the country have led to improved attendance and test scores among students.

“There’s no industry, no entity that has not benefited from the efforts and the imagination of African Americans,” state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, told the board. “We have fought for the abolition of slavery, for the implementation of civil rights. We have been the creators and the inventors. We have been the preachers and the poets. We have been the teachers and continue to be the teachers.”