In 2022, the Georgia House of Representatives, following a familiar playbook used by Republicans across the country, approved legislation that limited what could be taught about race in the state’s public classroom.
House Bill 1084 passed 92-63 in a party-line vote and came in the wake of national outrage over the notion that K-12 teachers were promoting the college-level academic concept known as critical race theory, which is used to examine the effects of racism on society.
Critics of bills like HB 1084 say they hinder the teaching of history. The Atlanta-based National Center for Civil and Human Rights is now trying to address that.
In November, the 10-year-old center unveiled its “Learning Portal,” an innovative digital platform that highlights important stories about civil and human rights, while providing open access for teachers to explore key moments and topics in American history.
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Jill Savitt, CEO of the center, said the portal is designed to enrich teaching strategies and “inspire a new generation of advocates for civil and human rights.”
“This is our way of helping teachers teach civil and human rights with a focus on using primary artifacts and source,” Savitt said. “We have a lot of teachers who are unsure about what they can and cannot say in the classroom.”
The portal will provide teachers with access to photography, video and artifacts to create lesson plans. Savitt said the portal was beta tested for about nine months with the help of teachers, who vetted all of the data and documents.
“One of the challenges we find in how history is taught is (that it’s) not always a full account of history,” Savitt said. “You can teach the truth and not be accurate because of what you leave out. We are trying to give a full account of history.”
Credit: Courtesy of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Credit: Courtesy of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights
The opening of the portal comes at a critical time, both for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which is in the process of a major reconstruction, and because the country is about to inaugurate a president who has promised to eliminate the Department of Education.
According to the UCLA School of Law’s critical race theory studies program, through April of 2024, approximately 250 local, state and federal governmental entities had introduced bills, executive orders and other policies to restrict the content of teaching and trainings related to race, racism and systemic racism in public schools.
In most states, divisive concepts laws prohibit classroom teaching and mandatory trainings that require or compel people to accept or “personally affirm” named concepts as factual rather than ideological.
Savitt said most of these concepts are designed not only to hide history, but to also not make white students feel bad about themselves and their ancestors’ roles in history.
“We don’t share the view that history is to make you happy,” Savitt said. “History shows how you got the way you are. We help teachers use the evidence of history to teach history.”
Credit: National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Credit: National Center for Civil and Human Rights
The opening of the portal will also, according to Savitt, make the downtown museum more accessible. The center is in the middle of a $56 million renovation project that will double the size of the 10-year-old facility by adding two new wings. The expansion will include updates to the permanent civil and human rights exhibits and a gallery to display the artifacts and papers of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr.
In January, the center will close for nine months to connect the two wings and reorganize existing space and exhibitions.
“We have limited real estate in museum but limitless real estate on the internet,” Savitt said, referring to the new portal. “We believe the story of civil rights is the history of our democracy. We see the portal as teaching democracy and democratic practices.”
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