Oklahoma Moving to Ban the ‘1619 Project’ From Being Taught in State-Funded Universities
“State-funded colleges and universities that fail to comply with the guidelines provided in the bill will be notified by the Attorney General.”
Campus Reform reports:
Oklahoma bill would prohibit ‘1619 Project’ being taught in state universities
Oklahoma may ban the “1619 Project,” authored by journalist and now Howard University professor Nikole Hannah-Jones, from its state-funded schools and higher education institutions.
House Bill 2988, slated to be introduced on the floor on Feb. 7, was authored by state Rep. Jim Olsen and co-sponsored by Rep. David Hardin, and sets parameters for state agencies and public schools constructing historical frameworks.
Specifically, it takes aim at restricting content extracted from the contentious “1619 project” being taught in the classroom, lest institutions lose state-driven funding.
The bill states:
“No state agency, school district, charter school, online instruction funded in any manner by the Oklahoma Legislature, or personnel or agent of such state agency, school district, charter school, or online instruction shall teach, use, or provide for use by any pupil any curricula, instructional materials, or assignments designed to teach components of the 1619 Project as part of any curricula, course syllabi, or instruction in any course or program of study…”
The bill further prohibits teaching “the primary and overarching purpose” of the discovery of America was “the initiation and perpetuation of slavery.”
State-funded colleges and universities that fail to comply with the guidelines provided in the bill will be notified by the Attorney General. Should the institution fail to comply within 30 days of notice, a maximum of 10% of state funds will be withheld by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
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Comments
The 1619 Project doesn’t belong in a “history” course any more than “Huckleberry Finn” or “Wuthering Heights” should be taught as history. The author even admitted that it’s not “history.”
But there’s nothing wrong with teaching the 1619 Project as long as it’s in a course on “fiction.” One might even contrast it with reality.
It would make a great resource for a psychopathology course.