HR 1394 · 117th Congress 2021–2023, ended

Black History is American History Act

Introduced Feb 26, 2021 Originated House Sponsor Joyce Beatty D-OH

Fact sheet

Latest action · Feb 26, 2021 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedFeb 26, 2021
  2. Passed HouseNot reached
  3. Passed SenateNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Black History is American History Act

This bill requires entities (e.g., institutions of higher education, libraries, and museums), in order to be eligible for certain grants administered by the Department of Education (ED), to include Black history in their teaching of American history. It also requires Black history to be included in tests administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Specifically, the bill mandates the inclusion of Black history as a required component of American history for such entities to be eligible for American History and Civics Academies' competitive grants. These grants support the establishment of (1) Presidential Academies for Teachers of American History and Civics, which offer workshops to teachers of American history and civics to strengthen their knowledge and prepare them to teach in these subjects; and (2) Congressional Academies for Students of American History and Civics, which support high school students in developing an understanding of these subjects. (Currently, Black history is not a required component of American history for either academy.)

In addition, ED must give priority to grant applicants that align their activities with programs and resources of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The bill also requires the inclusion of Black history in tests administered by the NAEP, which measures student academic achievement in various subjects.

Cosponsors 67

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 26, 2021 to Nov 30, 2022, with 45 there on the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-NYAdriano EspaillatOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-NJAlbio SiresOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-FLAlcee L. HastingsOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-INAndré CarsonOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-MDAnthony G. BrownOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-MAAyanna PressleyOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-ILBobby L. RushOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-NJBonnie Watson ColemanOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-NYCarolyn B. MaloneyOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-PAChrissy HoulahanOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-MIDaniel T. KildeeOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-NCDavid E. PriceOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-MIDebbie DingellOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-FLDebbie Wasserman SchultzOriginalFeb 26, 2021
D-NCDeborah K. RossOriginalFeb 26, 2021
Show all 67 cosponsors

Actions 2

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Feb 26, 2021Introduced in House
  2. Feb 26, 2021Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Feb 26, 2021Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.