LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A new effort is underway to protect the teaching of African-American history in Arkansas.
It's an issue that has been made controversial since the start of this school year, and some community members have explained how it's a necessary subject in classrooms and society.
"When I hear people wanting to repackage or represent American history without the realities of its racial injustices, and policies and systems, it disturbs me in a way that I don't quite have words for," said Senior Pastor of Saint Mark Baptist Church, Dr. Phillip Pointer.
Pointer is the senior pastor at what is considered to be one of the largest Baptist churches in the state of Arkansas.
He explained how there is a responsibility that each of us has to continue to perpetuate that right knowledge— the right handing down of history without trying to adjust the narratives to fit our comfort levels.
"Because it will ignore the pain that people are presently experiencing. And then it won't allow us to address the systems that need to be addressed in order to bring about the true promise of America, which is liberty and justice for all," Pointer described.
Just days before the first day of school, the Arkansas Department of Education announced that the AP African-American studies course would not count towards graduation. The department explained it was reviewing the course for possible indoctrination.
"I think one of the principal issues with the current climate and culture around African-American Studies is the misalignment with critical race theory. The idea that anything that has to do with the racial history of the nation is critical race theory, which is a misnomer," Pointer added.
Dr. John Kirk, George W. Donaghey's distinguished professor of history at UA Little Rock expressed how he also agrees that perception is playing a role.
"I think a lot of it has to do with the content or perceived content of the classes and what has been taught in schools. And that seems to be the main thrust of the issues involved," Dr. Kirk said. "The debates over African-American history and its role in the curriculum has a very long history to it."
Dr. Kirk who is originally from London has studied African-American history for decades— specifically Arkansas African-American history.
“I think one of the most important things about understanding history is that it helps us to understand our lives today, how we got here today, and the whole context for how we operate today. And without history it's kind of like having no memory," he said. "How can we wake up every morning, and remember who we are and what we are, the place that we live in, if we have no memory of that, and history really is sort of the collective memory of the community in the nation in understanding who we are, how we operate, and how we go about our day to day business, in the present term."
He also said that what we are seeing when it comes to lawmakers questioning if and how African-American history is taught isn't unique to the times we are living in.
"It goes back a very long way in particularly African-American history. In the South, in particular, in textbooks, the way that reconstruction was taught, for example, has shifted dramatically over the years. Indeed, one of the founding texts in African American history is W.E.B. Du Bois, his book, Black Reconstruction, which actively tried to challenge the way that reconstruction and African Americans were presented in southern textbooks," Dr. Kirk described.
For decades now, some curricula has been criticized for not focusing on the history of all.
"African American history is part of American history and a vital part of that history. And the very fact that it is sort of labeled as something separate from American history, in itself, speaks to the way that that history has been excluded from mainstream histories of American history in the past," he said.
Now, communities have been stepping in to teach up-and-coming scholars more now than ever. Pointer said that as a pastor, professor, and parent, it is his responsibility to ensure those he has responsibility for are properly informed.
"The Black church in America has always taught African-American history. It's a part of our regular and normative practice, to be a part of passing along proper truth," Pointer said. "The late London great preacher Charles Spurgeon said, 'We're to preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other'. And so the idea is that we can't be spiritual without being social. So St. Mark does our best to ensure that in our children and youth spaces and in our adult spaces, we're sharing proper history, right history."
From having a living museum this year for Black History Month to integrating African American history into scriptural lessons for children and adults, Pointer and the leaders of his church have worked to prioritize keeping the story alive of those who have overcome systems of oppression.
In 2024, the church will have a Black History Month program on February 11 including students and choirs from several local schools. The church will also have a monthly Reading Café which will include a Black History component.
As for the future, both acknowledge there will be a time when we'll be looking at how African-American history has changed and how it has been taught over time.
“I have some concerns about some of the things I hear and some of the things I see from those who sit in seats of power. But I am not worried because I know that God ultimately has the last say and that God is on the side of the oppressed," Pointer said. "And God proves through scripture and history, that those who are concerned for the poor, for those who've been pushed to the margins, for those who've been ostracized by society left out of the opportunities, economically and socially, that God always has a way of making it up to those persons and pulling them to the center.”
"History is all around us, in our families and our communities everywhere we look. And I really encourage my students to bring that knowledge into the classroom and test it against academic knowledge and see where it fits within the wider knowledge about African-Americans in US history," Dr. Kirk said.