This summer, the New York state legislature passed a peculiarly rationalized plan to increase the attention to African-American studies in the US history curriculum. Without citing any evidence for his claim, the bill's sponsor, Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman Clarence Norman, contended,"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 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."
This afternoon, a Brooklyn jury convicted Norman on three felony counts and one misdemeanor count regarding the solicitation of illegal campaign contributions. He had to immediately resign his Assembly seat. The cause of insufficient attention to the oppressed in the contemporary curriculum will apparently need a new champion.