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Are Florida’s Black Churches Really Teaching Black History?
A few months ago, the Florida State Board of Education released its new African American history standards. A section of the curriculum examined the various duties and trades of slaves. The document then instructed educators to include how slaves developed skills that, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.
This simple fact sparked a nationwide controversy.
Opponents of the Republican governor of Florida immediately distorted the facts and accused the state of teaching children that slavery was beneficial for African-Americans. Other critics asserted that Florida’s new curriculum distorts history and minimizes the atrocities of slavery.
The new black history curriculum in Florida did not distort the past and acknowledged the atrocities of slavery, but the general public believed the false claims of the critics.
Faith in Florida, a non-profit coalition of religious institutions, compiled a “toolkit” of reading material and videos so churches can teach “raw and real” black history in response to their state “distorting” it.
Black pastors throughout Florida insisted that the church had no alternative but to correct the state’s distortions of black history in their Sunday schools and pulpits. One black pastor stated…