Who owns history?

In light of recent policies and educational restrictions, the questions of who owns the right to regulate history lingers as lawmakers continue to enact changes.

By CLIONA JOY PILIGAN, Staff Writer

Schools hold the responsibility of fostering critical thinking and problem solving. In history courses, education’s constant progression has guided newer generations to practice these principles. Similar to subjects like math and English, history is taught through a set of standards and guidelines. Recently, widespread protests across the United States over racial inequality and political ideologies have affected the transparency of history for both locals and students alike.

As students transition into high school, they may take Advanced Placement classes to earn early college credits. However, according to The New York Times, on Jan. 19, the Florida Department of Education sent a letter to the College Board, a nonprofit organization that fosters specialized programs for college readiness, rejecting its new framework for AP African American Studies.

With no federal civics standards, state governments can determine the historical topics they believe students should learn. However, partisan divide on education has impacted the teaching of Critical Race Theory, an academic concept used to explain systemic racism. Since Jan.18, 2021, 18 states have passed legislation limiting or banning the discussion of racism in schools according to Education Week. In Florida, the “Individual Freedom Act” was passed, prohibiting instruction that may imply someone’s “status as either privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by his or her race, color, national origin, or sex.”

This regulation, however, does not limit Florida Statute 1003.42 which relates to the instruction of African American history in grades K-12. To this day, the African American History Task Force (AAHTF) continues to execute this enactment. The task force is an advocate group that works with Florida’s school districts to implement the teaching of African American history.

“In the Department of Education, from the framework, they said that it was in violation of the new legislation that they had about indoctrination,” said Deputy Superintendent Dana Kriznar.

According to Kriznar, a member of the AAHTF, Florida may reconsider the AP class if the curriculum is amended.

“We were very excited when we heard they were starting a pilot and asked to be part of [it], and we at least know of one school that got into the pilot for the upcoming year,” said Kriznar. “We were very disappointed when we learned we would not be able to implement that curriculum.”

Additionally, Kriznar supervised Duval County’s African American History Summer Writing Initiative in 2022, where students in Duval County created lesson plans for teaching African American history. With the help of a publisher, the organization’s source books facilitated the program’s course while following standards provided by the state.

“The program was very insightful into local history and information that is often overlooked,” said senior class officer Priya Patel, who participated in the program last summer. “All of these events and people had significant contributions to Jacksonville, specifically through their support for activism towards the Civil Rights Movement.”

During the 1890s and 1950s, pro-Confederates after the Civil War promoted the “Lost Cause,” a claim that secession happened to achieve state’s rights. Since 1894, the United Daughters of the Confederacy preserved these ideas for future generations by raising funds for monuments of Confederate soldiers.

“There’s been a lot of talk by other council members [about] taking action, but for some reason, nothing seems to happen. Why some people want to keep Confederate statues in Jacksonville is because they really do not understand the issue,” said Councilman Matt Carlucci. “Many people do not understand that these monuments were instruments of [the] Jim Crow era of discrimination.”

Some Stanton students have differing opinions on historic statues. Sophomore Eliane Morgan offers a solution to the debate.

“I think we shouldn’t alter the ones that are already up because they represent a part of history, however good or bad that part may be,” said Morgan. “Instead, we should put up more statues and monuments to honor the people who were overlooked in history.” senior who last and to their Civil 1950s, War claim achieve United Confederacy future for soldiers. other taking nothing people in really said “Many these [the] have statues. a ones they however said up honor overlooked

Although progress has been slowed on removing Confederate statue, Carlucci is focusing on projects honoring African American history, such as the history of James Weldon Johnson, a Civil Rights figure.

“We are now trying to create a park close to where James Weldon Johnson and his brother were born that will have historic information about their legacy,” said Carlucci.

While the push for taking down monuments is underway, Stanton’s African American history teacher Mr. Caleb Smith expressed his thoughts on the topics found problematic by the FLDOE.

“It looks like some of the main things were Queer Theory, Critical Race Theory, or some of the authors who contributed work that connected to Critical Race Theory, and then modern topics like Black Lives Matter,” said Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith encourages his students to study these topics; however, the future of the pilot course has made him uneasy.

“The criticism that has gone back and forth between College Board and Governor DeSantis has me feeling a bit pessimistic,” said Mr. Smith. “I hope for resolution so that students have the opportunity to study this incredibly rich part of history.”

Stanton’s AP U.S. History teachers use the 12th edition of the textbook, “The American Pageant.”

“There is a problem with the textbooks,” said Mr. Fleming. “I think the textbooks are outdated, and there are textbooks that emphasize the wrong thing or sometimes have facts wrong.”

Cengage, the publisher of “The American Pageant,” revealed in 2018 the addition of improvements and corrections for the latest in academic scholarship including historical accounts from African Americans.

According to junior Laura Palaj, the AP European History textbook does not emphasize Southeastern Europe’s past.

“During AP Euro, no time at all was [spent] on Southeastern Europe,” said Palaj. “It is wrong to not talk about the important political events that occurred in that region.”

According to Stanton AP European History teacher Mr. Brian Heggood, the majority of Southeastern Europe’s history is not intricately discussed.

Freshman Saud Alburaih shared a similar outlook on AP African American history.

“AP African American studies is an integral part of history.” said Alburaih.

“Knowing the struggles of Black people and what they do, it shouldn’t be glossed over and forgotten.”

As a response to state legislatures limiting the teaching of Critical Race Theory, the College Board released a revised curriculum on Feb. 1 of this year. Though textbooks and monuments are considered essential to learning about the country’s past, the full coverage of history may not please all who learn about it.