Missouri schools would be required to teach more comprehensive Black history under a new Senate bill.
SB 967 creates a Black History Education and Awareness commission that would develop educational guidelines for teaching Black history. It also designates the first week of February as Black History Week.
Curriculum materials would include historically black colleges and universities, accomplishments by Black Americans and Missouri’s history with slavery.
Bill sponsor Angela Mosley (D-Florissant) argued Black history and American history are viewed separately, preventing people from understanding their country.
“This bill is not about guilt or grievance,” Mosley said. “It’s about truth, awareness and unity through education."
Liberty University historian Debra Foster Greene testified in support of the bill. She said understanding Black history as American history makes citizens more educated.
“We should be able to look at each other critically and say we’re all in this together and I understand where we have come from,” Greene said.
Marquette High School senior Karah McDowell also testified in support. She said when Black history has been taught in her classes, other students viewed it as taboo.
“No one was eager to ask questions, no one celebrated the true beauty of my culture,” McDowell said. “There was no light for me to shine in.”
Mosley’s bill follows the same framework as the 2022 creation of a state Holocaust awareness commission. It has not been scheduled for a floor vote.
