Florida students are giving up Saturdays to learn Black history lessons their schools don’t teach

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Buried among Florida’s manicured golf courses and sprawling suburbs are the artifacts of its slave-holding past: the long-lost cemeteries of enslaved people, the statutes of Confederate soldiers that still stand watch over town squares, the old plantations turned into modern subdivisions that bear the same name. Florida has required public schools to teach African American history for the past 30 years, but many families no longer trust the state’s education system to adequately address the subject. “And most people don’t know what they did.” Black history mandate came at time of atonement State lawmakers unanimously approved the African American history requirement in 1994 at a time of atonement over Florida’s history. “I think it’s even more clear now that there needs to be a level of self-reliance and self-determination when it comes to passing on the history and heritage of our ancestors.” Renee O’Connor near a mural at Miami Norland Senior High School, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Renee O’Connor near a mural at Miami Norland Senior High School, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Most Florida schools don’t offer Black history classes Last year, only 30 of Florida’s 67 traditional school districts offered at least one standalone course on African American history or humanities, according to state data. Frustration over the restrictions that teachers face pushed Renee O’Connor to take a sabbatical last year from her job teaching Black history at Miami Norland Senior High School in the majority-Black city of Miami Gardens.