(PresidentialWire.com)- A new curriculum for high schools that’s meant to tell story of Black Americans who have prospered is being launched by two black leaders.
Called 1776 Unites, the curriculum focuses on telling these success stories and how these people prospered after embracing the founding ideals of America.
The curriculum is being rolled out by charter school leader Ian Rowe and civil rights veteran Bob Woodson. The two said on Wednesday that they hope 1176 Unites will achieve a lot for young black students and all students.
Rowe, who serves as a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said the goal of the curriculum is to “let millions of young people know about these incredible stories, African-Americans past and present, innovative, inventive, who faced adversity, did not view themselves as victims, and chose pathways to be agents of their own uplift.”
The curriculum plans to present “life lessons from largely unknown, heroic African-American figures from the past and present who triumphed over adverse conditions.” It also hopes to help all young people of all races “be architects of their own future by embracing the principles of education, family, free enterprise, faith, hard work and personal responsibility.”
The 1776 Unites is taking a vastly different approach to this education than the 1619 Project, which the New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize for. That project “aims to reframe the country’s history” by saying the year that the first slave was brought to North America, 1619, is what represents America’s true founding.
According to Woodson, though, the message of the 1619 Project is “that America should be defined as a racist society where all whites are culpable and guilty of having privilege and therefore should be punished and all blacks are victims that should be compensated.” Woodson said that conclusion is “a very corrosive and dangerous challenge to these traditional values.”
Woodson further said his 1776 Unites project isn’t meant to “debate” with the Times’ 1619 Project. Instead, it should be seen as an “inspirational alternative.”
As Rowe said:
“Some of the most well-respected historians in the country have overwhelmingly discredited and rejected key elements of the 1619 Project. We’re not in competition with them, but it is important to highlight the contrast that exists.”
Many historians are up in arms about the 1619 Project. Some have even demanded the Times issue corrections for the many “errors and distortions” that are contained within it.
Rowe and Woodson’s project, meanwhile, would include lessons for only high school students to start. There are plans to release curriculum that’s geared specifically for kindergarten through eighth-grade students in the near future.
Updated content lessons are expected to be released each month for free. The two creators of the project intend to take into consideration feedback they receive on the lessons from teachers and parents.
The curriculum is designed to supplement English and history courses that are currently being taught in schools throughout the country. Some public school districts and charter schools have already requested the curriculum, Rowe said Wednesday.
