Bill would legislate how slavery is taught, critic calls it "outright censorship" – Claremore Daily Progress

OKLAHOMA CITY An Oklahoma lawmaker says he wants to put the teaching of slavery in America in context, but one of the nations leading historians, after reading the bill, called it radical legislation that amounts to outright censorship.

State Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, said House Bill 2988 prohibits teaching slavery in Oklahoma public schools and universities in a way that might lead one to think America is worse than other nations in history or that one race is a unique victim or oppressor. He said anybody if they trace their lineage back far enough is eventually going to find slave owners in their family tree.

He also said his bill does not prohibit someone from teaching that slavery existed in America, but bans the teaching of the 1619 Project, which supporters say aims to reframe U.S. history by marking the year when the first enslaved Americans arrived on Virginia soil as our nations foundational date.

(Slavery) is a problem common to mankind, Olsen said. Thats not to excuse America or the evil of American slavery, but some of the folks behind this type of curriculum, they really hate America. And if you teach America with only its faults and flaws out of context, then young people grow up hating America.

He said the important thing is to teach slavery in context, noting that America was guilty of slavery but other nations and cultures were guilty, too. He said that of all the slave trade from Africa, America received just 3%.

The important thing is just to teach it in context, not to deny our own culpability, but not to present it in a way that America is more culpable than all other nations, Olsen said.

He acknowledged that primarily Black people were enslaved in America and owned by whites, but said there were some African American and Native American slave owners, too.

He said the measure, which he believes is the first of its kind, has garnered strong support among his colleagues. He also said a similar measure is in the works in Missouri.

Its very hard for a teacher to teach about slavery without emphasizing that in the United States (or) in the areas that would become the United States, it was generally white people who enslaved Black people, said James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association. Thats a fact, not an interpretation.

Grossman, author of books on the Black experience in America, said the measure is radical legislation that is either designed to indoctrinate Oklahoma students with a notion of history that is untrue or leave out some of the most important aspects of history.

He said 10 million Africans were kidnapped from Africa, and many of them died on the passage that brought them to the Western Hemisphere. Yes, slaves were not only brought to the United States, but also to the Caribbean and to Brazil, and Europeans also enslaved Africans, and Africans enslaved each other. But he said that doesnt change the fact that Americans bought and sold people of African descent.

And if you dont tell students that fact, they will be ignorant of American history, Grossman said. You could title this bill, To Ensure the Ignorance of American Youth.

He said historians both agree and disagree with aspects of the 1619 Project, but its not the business of the state legislature to prohibit teachers from assigning certain materials any more than its the business of the state legislature to prohibit libraries from putting materials in the library.

This is just outright censorship, he said.

He said he doesnt think Oklahoma would want its students to be unable to score high on the college-level Advanced Placement history exam, and doesnt believe the state would want its graduates to be ignorant of their own history. Employers, he said, want employees who can think critically, ask questions and are knowledgeable about their countrys past. This bill would make the state less competitive on the job market.

What theyre trying to do here is prevent teachers from helping students to understand the history of racism in the United States and the legacies of that history, Grossman said.

State Rep. Monroe Nichols, D-Tulsa, said that the measure goes beyond prohibiting the teaching of slavery. He said it suggests that slavery didnt really happen, wasnt an evil thing that happened in the country or as bad as it was in other countries.

Nichols, who also serves as vice chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said he puts Olsen in the same box as those who deny the Holocaust, Sept. 11 terror attacks or Sandy Hook elementary school shooting.

His defense of slave owners does nothing to promote a better view of the foundations of this country, Nichols said.

He said throughout history there have always been sympathizers of folks who have tried to qualify some atrocity by saying it wasnt as bad as portrayed, or maybe it didnt happen.

Nichols said if Olsen believes slavery isnt being taught properly, perhaps the Legislature should require every student to complete a full course on the issue so that everyone can understand the full context of enslaved peoples around the world.

And, he said American slavery cant be taught without referencing race.

The teaching of slavery, the teaching of how slavery and discrimination has impacted this country to this day, is not to suggest that it is the fault of anybody living today or anything like that, Nichols said. It is, however, to help us all understand why we have gaps in achievement and opportunity in this country. Because it wasnt just about slavery.

At 38, Nichols, who is Black, said hes the first in his family to be born with all the rights that Americans are supposed to have.

Nichols also said its possible that Olsens bill has broad support among Republican lawmakers, but hopes it doesnt.

Things, although painful, can teach us a whole lot about what we have to do differently as a society, he said.

Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI's newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhinews.com.

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Bill would legislate how slavery is taught, critic calls it "outright censorship" - Claremore Daily Progress