Starting with this fall’s freshman class, high school students in the Philadelphia School District will be required to take a courses in African and African American history in order to graduate.
This is being done according to Commissioner Sandra Dungee Glenn because “Given the history of this country and still given our problems of discrimination and racism, for all of our children to have a more accurate picture of history, a more complete picture of history, is important.”
Sounds like another opportunity to bash our founding fathers and any other dead white European male to me.
A couple of questions come to mind. First, what does this do to Black History Month? Second, what about other cultures? After all the Latino population is exploding in the U.S. and Asians have been a force for years.
District officials did admit that it would be better to have courses that reflected all cultures but that African American history has been neglected for far too long. The districts chief executive officer said it wasn’t about being politically correct, but about being comprehensive. Yet at the same time there will be no such courses for other cultures.
In the end the issue isn’t really about the courses, but about the fact that they are required for graduation. A few weeks ago teacher’s unions across the country howled that the Department of Education was mandating teaching about the Constitution in September. There were no such protests about this requirement. Why? Because it is politically correct, it is what the teachers believe in and in a district where two thirds of the students are black; you will be called a racist if you do.
Don Irvine is Chairman of Accuracy in Media.
