Yes, African American History Will Improve Texas Schools
It is vital that students, regardless of race, see themselves in the important parts of history.
Pioneer aviator Bessie Coleman stands on the wheel of a plane in this 1920s photo. Coleman gave exhibition flights in the United States as well as Europe earning the name 'Queen Bess' and tried her best to become famous. But outside the segregated black world in which she lived, few people ever paid attention.
By Dallas Morning News Editorial
3:00 AM on Nov 25, 2019
Taught properly, history offers insight into a society as an archive of what we consider important enough to pass on to future generations. So we were elated to learn that the state Board of Education is ready to approve African American studies electives for high school students in Texas.
Over the years, we’ve criticized the State Board of Education for promoting ideology over facts in Texas history during their often contentious discussions of what students should learn in classrooms. And this resulted in major omissions, and even distortions, of the roles that Texans of color played in making this a great state.
Our hope is that this is about to change. Less than two years after the state board approved Mexican American studies, the board early next year is expected to approve its first African American studies course. "We will be passing this," said Pat Hardy, a Fort Worth Republican member of the 15-member board responsible for setting curriculum standards and adopting textbooks for Texas public schools.
We applaud Hardy for her emphatic support, and a board that now understands the need to update curriculum to chronicle African American achievements. In 2014, many Republicans on the panel defeated a proposal to create a Mexican American studies course, arguing it would divide instead of unite students. Only after more board fights in subsequent years did the SBOE finally relent and approve the course in 2018.
It is important for high school students to learn that the history of Texas — and the United States — includes the experiences and contributions of Mexican Americans, African Americans and other people from diverse backgrounds. To tell the history of our diverse state with scant attention to trailblazers of color tells only part of a complex story. Plus it is vital that students, regardless of race, see themselves in the important parts of history.
This isn’t a squishy, feel-good wish. There’s research to support the academic benefits of ethnic studies. Between 2010 and 2014, Stanford University researchers studied the impact of an ethnic-studies curriculum on struggling ninth-grade students who had been identified as at high risk for dropping out. Attendance increased by 21 percentage points and grade-point average by 1.4 points. The largest gains occurred among boys and Hispanic students, and in the subjects of math and science.
No single study is definitive. Nonetheless, there is a growing body of evidence that minority students benefit from having a role model either in the classroom or in the course materials, and that students of other races also appreciate learning additional perspectives on history.
Such courses allow students of all backgrounds an opportunity to learn who they are and how they and their classmates connect to the broader society. Some education experts also contend the role model effect helps minority students debunk stereotypes that often impede academic performance.
The state board will create curriculum standards for the course based on the African American studies class in the Dallas Independent School District and is expected to take a final vote in April.
The African American experience is more complex than slavery and the civil rights movement. Now students all over the state will have an opportunity to gain insight into people, incidents and accomplishments that haven’t gotten their proper due in classrooms. As a state, we will be better for it.
Influential African Americans in Texas history
A sampling of Texans worth knowing
Bessie Coleman
Born in 1892 in Atlanta, Texas, no one would ever have expected Bess Coleman to achieve the things she did in her short life. The daughter of a Cherokee father and an African American mother, Coleman defied all odds when she became the first black woman aviator (as well as the first Native American woman aviator). She is pictured here.
Walter R. McMillan
McMillan established McMillan Sanitarium in what is now the Dallas area called Uptown. McMillan Sanitarium was a clean, two-story complex at 2322 Hall St. It boasted surgical stations, offices for several doctors, waiting rooms, a druggist, an insurance company, a barbershop and other businesses. Pictured on the far left in this photo.
Richard Arvin Overton
Born in 1906 in Bastrop Country, Overton was the oldest living World War II American veteran when he died at 112 years old in 2018. He served in the military from 1941 to 1945, and his unit — made up of African American soldiers — was one of the first to arrive at Pearl Harbor after the Japanese attack. As a gift, the city of Austin renamed the street where he lived “Richard Overton Avenue.” He is pictured here.
Hattie Mae White
Hattie Mae White was the first African American elected to significant public office since Reconstruction. A former schoolteacher, she won a place on the Houston school board in 1958, a time when the city’s schools remained segregated despite the ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education.
George T. Ruby
In 1866, George Ruby joined the Freedmen’s Bureau at Galveston and began administering the agency’s schools while simultaneously serving as a correspondent for the New Orleans Tribune. He briefly published the Galveston Standard. Between 1866 and 1867, Ruby was a traveling agent for the bureau, visiting Washington, Austin, Bastrop, Fort Bend, and other cities and counties to establish chapters of the Union League and temperance societies. He was elected to the Texas Senate in 1869 from the mostly white 12th District and introduced successful bills on railroads, banks and insurance companies.
Dallas Morning News Editorial. Dallas Morning News editorials are written by the paper's Editorial Board and serve as the voice and view of paper. The board considers a broad range of topics and is overseen by the Editor of Editorial Page.
Pioneer aviator Bessie Coleman stands on the wheel of a plane in this 1920s photo. Coleman gave exhibition flights in the United States as well as Europe earning the name 'Queen Bess' and tried her best to become famous. But outside the segregated black world in which she lived, few people ever paid attention.
By Dallas Morning News Editorial
3:00 AM on Nov 25, 2019
Taught properly, history offers insight into a society as an archive of what we consider important enough to pass on to future generations. So we were elated to learn that the state Board of Education is ready to approve African American studies electives for high school students in Texas.
Over the years, we’ve criticized the State Board of Education for promoting ideology over facts in Texas history during their often contentious discussions of what students should learn in classrooms. And this resulted in major omissions, and even distortions, of the roles that Texans of color played in making this a great state.
Our hope is that this is about to change. Less than two years after the state board approved Mexican American studies, the board early next year is expected to approve its first African American studies course. "We will be passing this," said Pat Hardy, a Fort Worth Republican member of the 15-member board responsible for setting curriculum standards and adopting textbooks for Texas public schools.
We applaud Hardy for her emphatic support, and a board that now understands the need to update curriculum to chronicle African American achievements. In 2014, many Republicans on the panel defeated a proposal to create a Mexican American studies course, arguing it would divide instead of unite students. Only after more board fights in subsequent years did the SBOE finally relent and approve the course in 2018.
It is important for high school students to learn that the history of Texas — and the United States — includes the experiences and contributions of Mexican Americans, African Americans and other people from diverse backgrounds. To tell the history of our diverse state with scant attention to trailblazers of color tells only part of a complex story. Plus it is vital that students, regardless of race, see themselves in the important parts of history.
This isn’t a squishy, feel-good wish. There’s research to support the academic benefits of ethnic studies. Between 2010 and 2014, Stanford University researchers studied the impact of an ethnic-studies curriculum on struggling ninth-grade students who had been identified as at high risk for dropping out. Attendance increased by 21 percentage points and grade-point average by 1.4 points. The largest gains occurred among boys and Hispanic students, and in the subjects of math and science.
No single study is definitive. Nonetheless, there is a growing body of evidence that minority students benefit from having a role model either in the classroom or in the course materials, and that students of other races also appreciate learning additional perspectives on history.
Such courses allow students of all backgrounds an opportunity to learn who they are and how they and their classmates connect to the broader society. Some education experts also contend the role model effect helps minority students debunk stereotypes that often impede academic performance.
The state board will create curriculum standards for the course based on the African American studies class in the Dallas Independent School District and is expected to take a final vote in April.
The African American experience is more complex than slavery and the civil rights movement. Now students all over the state will have an opportunity to gain insight into people, incidents and accomplishments that haven’t gotten their proper due in classrooms. As a state, we will be better for it.
Influential African Americans in Texas history
A sampling of Texans worth knowing
Bessie Coleman
Born in 1892 in Atlanta, Texas, no one would ever have expected Bess Coleman to achieve the things she did in her short life. The daughter of a Cherokee father and an African American mother, Coleman defied all odds when she became the first black woman aviator (as well as the first Native American woman aviator). She is pictured here.
Walter R. McMillan
McMillan established McMillan Sanitarium in what is now the Dallas area called Uptown. McMillan Sanitarium was a clean, two-story complex at 2322 Hall St. It boasted surgical stations, offices for several doctors, waiting rooms, a druggist, an insurance company, a barbershop and other businesses. Pictured on the far left in this photo.
Richard Arvin Overton
Born in 1906 in Bastrop Country, Overton was the oldest living World War II American veteran when he died at 112 years old in 2018. He served in the military from 1941 to 1945, and his unit — made up of African American soldiers — was one of the first to arrive at Pearl Harbor after the Japanese attack. As a gift, the city of Austin renamed the street where he lived “Richard Overton Avenue.” He is pictured here.
Hattie Mae White
Hattie Mae White was the first African American elected to significant public office since Reconstruction. A former schoolteacher, she won a place on the Houston school board in 1958, a time when the city’s schools remained segregated despite the ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education.
George T. Ruby
In 1866, George Ruby joined the Freedmen’s Bureau at Galveston and began administering the agency’s schools while simultaneously serving as a correspondent for the New Orleans Tribune. He briefly published the Galveston Standard. Between 1866 and 1867, Ruby was a traveling agent for the bureau, visiting Washington, Austin, Bastrop, Fort Bend, and other cities and counties to establish chapters of the Union League and temperance societies. He was elected to the Texas Senate in 1869 from the mostly white 12th District and introduced successful bills on railroads, banks and insurance companies.
Dallas Morning News Editorial. Dallas Morning News editorials are written by the paper's Editorial Board and serve as the voice and view of paper. The board considers a broad range of topics and is overseen by the Editor of Editorial Page.
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