More on the NYS Curriculum

Today's Newsday carries a piece from AP reporter Michael Gormley raising additional concerns about the initiative on which I wrote yesterday to increase the attention to African-American studies in the US history curriculum.

The bill's sponsor was Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman Clarence Norman (heretofore best-known for having been indicted on minor corruption allegations). According to Norman, academics and non-academics"well versed in this type of issue" will be appointed to the commission."We feel there is, indeed, a void in our education curriculum in New York state when it comes to the issue of slavery and the de-humanization of Africans at that time" and of subsequent racism that African-Americans have experienced. Norman provides no evidence to sustain this interpretation--which, if true, would suggest that the entire US history curriculum in New York is flawed. But, again, there's no reason to believe that Norman's allegation is true.

Suggesting a broader agenda, Norman added that this could be the first of many such laws to demand increased attention in US history courses to oppressed racial and ethnic groups."Commonalities of struggle," he said," create a common bond."

Several educators speak out against the procedural aspects of Norman's initiative; substantively, it strikes me as equally flawed.