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Revive the NYS Amistad Act [1]

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Date: 2023-06-07  

Teaching American history including an examination of the impact of race and racism is under attack in dozens of states in the United States. Teaching the truth about both the achievements and failures of this country in the past and injustices that continue into the present has been dismissed as un-American Critical Race Theory. In states like Florida and Texas, teachers are required to teach feel-good propaganda that is supposed to promote unquestioning patriotism, but really leaves students ignorant about the country that they live in and why so many problems and divisions persist.

While New York State has not adopted bans on teaching the truth, it also has not ensured that social studies curriculum fully exam the injustices faced by African Americans and their contributions to the state and nation. There were two legislative efforts in the past, but so far neither has produced any significant changes in what is taught. It is past time to revise and revive the New York State Amistad Act and pass Senate Bill S1032 and Assembly Bill A1939.

In 1996, New York State passed a law establishing that social studies in grades 4-12 should focus on human rights. It also required instruction on the right to food and the Great Irish Famine, the right to life and the European Holocausts, and the right to freedom and New York’s role on the Underground Railroad. If you or your have children attended New York State public schools during the last thirty years, you know that despite the legal requirement, these topics were almost never covered. A big problem with the mandate to teach about the mandate to teach about New York’s role on the Underground Railroad was that ignored that there was slavery in New York State until 1827 and that New York merchants and bankers were involved in financing the trans-Atlantic slave trade even after it was illegal and in the marketing of slave produced commodities.

In 2005, the New York State legislature established the Amistad Commission as part of the state’s cultural affairs office to review the state’s education curriculum and to make recommendations for teaching about the African slave trade and its impact on American and New York State history. The Commission was named after the Amistad, a Spanish ship transporting enslaved Africans in its Cuban colony. In 1839, enslaved Africans on the ship rebelled and eventually brought the ship to safe harbor on Long Island. After a long series of court cases, the rebels were finally freed and permitted to return home. The Commission rarely met and did not issue a report until 2016. That report called for the “infusion” of African and African American history into the K-12 curriculum rather than recommending specific units, lessons, and books, an “infusion” that never took place. The conclusion of the report acknowledged, “While the Amistad Commission has had some success in ensuring that a true and accurate history of slavery and the African slave trade is included in our State’s educational curriculum, more work remains.”

The campaign to revise and revive the Amistad Commission and shift it to the state’s Department of Education is spearheaded by the Westchester Alliance of Black School Educators. In addition to teaching about the impact of slavery and the slave trade, WABSE wants the commission’s mandated expanded to include instruction on the entire African American experience in New York and the United States. You can join the coalition of supporters on their webpage.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/7/2173881/-Revive-the-NYS-Amistad-Act

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