The Rundown on AFAM

In 2005, the Philadelphia School District became the first school district in the United States to make African American History a mandatory course for graduation. This monumental decision came almost forty years after the student walkout demonstration of 1967.

Teachers and students alike agre–ed that the education students were receiving in schools before the mandate was insufficient and largely misleading. According to The Status of Black History in U.S. Schools and Society, textbooks “classified Black people as docile, uncivilized, and lazy. For example, Black people were portrayed as being content as slaves; they liked to “sing, dance, crack, jokes, and laugh.” This inaccurate depiction was prevalent until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. As a result of a growing call for more Black representation, California, along with seven other states, passed legislation that either required or recommended the teaching of the contributions and achievements of minority groups.

One of the major events that led to the 2005 mandate was the student walkout of 1967 in Philadelphia, which included over 3,000 students from all over the city. Masterman senior Taryn Flaherty (12-1) dedicated her 10th-grade research paper to the 1967 walkout, placing second for nationals in the National History Day project with an exhibit based on the paper. She explained how the walkout started, police interruption, and the impact of the walkouts on implementing African American history. Taryn, alongside students Alison Fortenberry, Nia Weeks, Tatiana Bennett, and Aden Gonzales, submitted a petition for a historical marker to commemorate the significance of the 1967 student walkout. The walkout started with students and community leaders such as Walter Palmer and Bill Mathis, who spent about a year planning in advance. Finally, on November 17, 1967, students took to the streets of Philadelphia, and headed for the School Board of Education. The students were not only fighting for an improved history course, but also for their right to expression. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, many schools during the mid-1900s did not tolerate many traditional Black hairstyles such as “flat-tops” and hair scarves. Palmer also recalled how students were denied the right to go by their African names. With these ideas in mind, the student body had developed a list of 25 requests that they hoped to fulfill with the walkout. These requests included: the ability to wear cultural clothing and hairstyles such as African dashikis and afros, the ability to organize and form councils, the ability for Black history to be taught as a major subject by Black teachers, the ability to have more Black representation in the school district and, lastly, the ability for Black students to be exempted from saluting to the American flag due to lack of justice. The walkout was meant to be a peaceful protest with students simply voicing their concerns. However, over 100 policemen, complete in riot attire, arrived at the scene, answering then-Police Commissioner Rizzo’s call. As Taryn expressed, “Police presence obviously made a lot of tension between the community and the police force and then between the community, who thought they had the trust of the school district.” Students were stricken and dogs were released into the scene, resulting in dozens of hospitalizations and injuries with 57 individuals being arrested for breach of peace and inciting riot. Four days after the walkout, the then-President of the School Board of Education and former Philadelphia mayor, Richardson Dilworth, said, “a serious effort by the school administration to speak creatively to the major tension in our city was tragically destroyed by inept and precipitous police action.”

The walkouts led to a series of changes within the school district regarding Black history, starting with the first implementation of African American history as a course. Prior to the walkouts, Black history in school curriculums was largely misrepresented and biased. During the walkout, a group of student leaders met with officials in the Board of Education and their requests were looked upon favorably. In 1969, a full African American history course was first introduced to students as an elective. From the mid to late 1900s to the early 2000s, Philadelphia progressively began to improve and advance their African American history curriculum. Policies were put in place requiring curriculums in African and Afro-American history and culture, and work was actively being done to secure African American history in all schools. Finally, on February 16, 2005, the School District of Philadelphia passed a resolution that mandated African and African American history for all high school students beginning in 2008. In September of that year, almost 5,000 freshman students were enrolled in such history courses. The district received support and approval nationwide from distinguished leaders in the push for civil rights, like Maya Angelou, Jesse Jackson, and Julian Bond.

Most schools nationwide now include African-American History and Black culture in their history courses, but few require it to graduate. From elementary to middle school, most students only experience Black history for a brief window of time during Black History Month. Ms. Taylor, one of Masterman’s African American History teachers, states, “I think that students get the idea that there’s not much to African-American history because every February, they learn about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, and they learn these sort of very ahistorical stories about them that might not be exactly true… and it’s not in depth and I think that can be harmful.” She explains how when a topic is taught for a short period of time, as most schools do, students can perceive it to be less important.

The goal of dedicating one full year to African American history was to equip students with a deeper understanding that the African American experience extends beyond slavery. As Sandra Dungee Glenn, a school reform commission member who fought for the application of an African American History course, expressed to The New York Times, “people’s views and understanding of who we are focus on us as descendants of slaves. It begins and ends there, giving us inferior status.” She believed that what is taught to students largely shapes their views and consequently shapes society. Another goal of the mandatory course was to shine light on African American contributions throughout history, broadening the recognition for Black figures. As Ms. Taylor stated, “We can’t really understand what happened in the U.S. until we understand the African American experience.”

Mandatory classes have made students increasingly aware of racism, as well as cleared the many stereotypical misunderstandings that students had to begin with. Ms. Taylor notes an observation that she has made through the years: “I see a change in what students write throughout the year, as they become more cognizant.” Ms. Whyatt, a teacher at Strawberry Mansion High School, an almost entirely Black school, states in The New York Times that her students once perceived Africa as “all jungle, that people ran around with spears and lived in huts.” One of the major goals of implementing the course was to clear misconceptions that students might have had concerning the African American past. By the end of the school year, Mrs. Whyatt had noted that they had a more conscious understanding of Africa and the African heritage.

One student shared to The New York Times, “in American society, we’re known as gangsters, drug dealers and killers. People don't know all about our heritage, what we stood for, our accomplishments as a culture. I feel better now because I know a little bit more about how we lived before we got here.” Most agree that the representation that Black students see for themselves in class discussions and textbooks impacts their perception of their own capabilities. Masterman senior Nia Weeks said, “I think it was a good awakening for me. It’s a lot different when you get to look at documents and sources right in front of you.” She also mentioned the importance of this course for non-Black students; it helped them understand why they needed to use their voice to advocate and speak up for the injustices that Black Americans have endured. Paul G. Vallas, the school system’s chief executive, summed it up by saying, “it benefits African-American children who need a more comprehensive understanding of their own culture, and it also benefits non-African-Americans to understand the full totality of the American experience.”

However, the course is not flawless, as one problem often arises in training teachers: “Most history teachers have never themselves taken a course in African American history, that certainly would limit the number of people who have expertise in that subject area,” stated Ms. Taylor. Due to inadequate training, teachers in Philadelphia are worried the history of abuse that slavery revolved around is too much for students to handle and that delving into such history will cause anger, pain, and guilt. In addition to the cautiousness surrounding the teaching of African American history, many agreed that it would be beneficial if the course was taught by a teacher who identified as Black/African American. For the 2020-21 scholastic year, the School District of Philadelphia reported that 65.6% of their teachers identify as white. For the same year, they reported 52% of their students being Black while only 25% of their teachers identified the same.

Moreover, the mandates on teaching the subject are loose and do not receive much oversight and reinforcement. Improper and insensitive teaching methods have also been seen in classrooms across the country. Mock auctions and slave “games,” in which students participate as either the enslaved or the enslaver, as well as reenactments of slavery and the Middle Passage, are examples of poorly executed attempts of teaching Black history.

Further exemplifying the concern that many teachers felt, Keanya Clifton-Roach, a Black educator at a predominantly white school said to the Washington Post, “It really touched on some nerves, especially with the white parents and the white community in that area...a lot of these kids could not handle it. It got to the point where parents told my principal their children would not do the assignment.” Aside from teachers, the course also faced opposition from white students and parents. After her year-long research on the 1967 walkouts, Flaherty explained how some believed it was not their history to learn. Others felt that they could spend the time taking another class, such as math or science.

Many agree that African American history is a course that has been long awaited starting with the civil rights movements and student protests in the mid 1900s. It finally acknowledges the African American experience in an unprejudiced and thorough manner. Although many acknowledge that the course has a long way to go before it is perfect, the path that has been taken has been shown to positively impact students. It provides them with comprehension of African American culture and contribution to the nation we live in today. Philadelphia is a fortunate city that provides a mandatory course, however, many students nationwide are still advocating for one at their schools. Ms. Taylor stated it simply: “If students push for it around the country, then those students’ voices are hard to ignore.”