(a) General requirements. Students shall be awarded one credit for successful completion of this course. This course is recommended for students in Grades 10-12.
(b) Introduction.
(1) In Ethnic Studies: African American Studies, an elective course, students learn about the history and cultural contributions of African Americans. This course is designed to assist students in understanding issues and events from multiple perspectives. This course develops an understanding of the historical roots of African American culture, especially as it pertains to social, economic, and political interactions within the broader context of United States history. It requires an analysis of important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions. Knowledge of past achievements provides citizens of the 21st century with a broader context within which to address the many issues facing the United States.
(2) To support the teaching of the essential knowledge and skills, the use of a variety of rich primary and secondary source material such as biographies, autobiographies, landmark cases of the U.S. Supreme Court, novels, speeches, letters, diaries, poetry, songs, and artwork is encouraged. Resources are available from museums, historical sites, presidential libraries, and local and state preservation societies.
(3) The eight strands of the essential knowledge and skills for social studies are intended to be integrated for instructional purposes. Skills listed in the social studies skills strand in subsection (c) of this section should be incorporated into the teaching of all essential knowledge and skills for social studies. A greater depth of understanding of complex content material can be attained when integrated social studies content from the various disciplines and critical-thinking skills are taught together.
(4) Students identify the role of the U.S. free enterprise system within the parameters of this course and understand that this system may also be referenced as capitalism or the free market system.
(5) Throughout social studies in Kindergarten-Grade 12, students build a foundation in history; geography; economics; government; citizenship; culture; science, technology, and society; and social studies skills. The content, as appropriate for the grade level or course, enables students to understand the importance of patriotism, function in a free enterprise society, and appreciate the basic democratic values of our state and nation as referenced in the Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.002(h).
(6) Students understand that a constitutional republic is a representative form of government whose representatives derive their authority from the consent of the governed, serve for an established tenure, and are sworn to uphold the constitution.
(7) State and federal laws mandate a variety of celebrations and observances, including Celebrate Freedom Week. (A) Each social studies class shall include, during Celebrate Freedom Week as provided under the TEC, §29.907, or during another full school week as determined by the board of trustees of a school district, appropriate instruction concerning the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, in their historical contexts. The study of the Declaration of Independence must include the study of the relationship of the ideas expressed in that document to subsequent American history, including the relationship of its ideas to the rich diversity of our people as a nation of immigrants, the American Revolution, the formulation of the U.S. Constitution, and the abolitionist movement, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation and the women's suffrage movement. (B) Each school district shall require that, during Celebrate Freedom Week or other week of instruction prescribed under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, students in Grades 3-12 study and recite the following text: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed."
(8) Students identify and discuss how the actions of U.S. citizens and the local, state, and federal governments have either met or failed to meet the ideals espoused in the founding documents.
(9) Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(c) Knowledge and skills.
(1) History. The student understands the influential historical points of reference in African history prior to 1619. The student is expected to: (A) identify the major eras, civilizations, and contributions of African history that are foundational to humanity and predate American slavery; (B) describe and compare the various pre-colonial, indigenous, and ancestral roots of African Americans such as educational systems, social and political developments, family structures, global trade, and exchange; and (C) analyze the effects of dehumanization through the capture, trade, and enslavement of Africans, within a regional and global context, including the Atlantic Slave Trade.
(2) History. The student understands the economic, political, and social development of slavery during the American colonial period, 1619 to 1775. The student is expected to: (A) analyze the African diaspora, including the role of Africans and Europeans; (B) compare and contrast the colonization of North, Central, and South America and the West Indies and neighboring islands and analyze the interactions among enslaved Africans and Native Americans; (C) describe and explain the impact of the Middle Passage on African American culture; and (D) explain the causes for the growth and development of slavery, primarily in the Southern colonies.
(3) History. The student understands the rationalization and ramifications for the continuation and growth of slavery and the anti-slavery movement in the United States from independence (1776) through the Emancipation Proclamation (1863). The student is expected to: (A) analyze the economic, social, religious, and legal rationalization used by some Americans to continue and expand slavery after declaring independence from Great Britain; (B) describe the impact of the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Act; (C) analyze the role that slavery played in the development of nationalism and sectionalism during the early 19th century; (D) analyze and evaluate various forms of individual and group resistance against the enslavement of African Americans; (E) analyze the influence of significant individuals and groups prior to and during the abolitionist movement to determine their impact on ending slavery such as the work of David Walker, Elijah P. Lovejoy, John Brown, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, the American Anti-Slavery Society, and the Underground Railroad; and (F) analyze national and international abolition efforts, including the gradual emancipation of enslaved people in the North (1777-1804), the U.S. ban on the slave trade (1808), the abolition of slavery in Mexico (1829) and Great Britain (1833), and the significance of the Guerrero Decree in the Texas Revolution.
(4) History. The student understands African American life from the Civil War through World War I. The student is expected to: (A) summarize the roles and experiences of African American soldiers and spies in both the North and South during the Civil War; (B) describe and analyze the successes and failures of Reconstruction; (C) compare the opportunities and challenges faced by African Americans from post-Reconstruction to the early 20th century and viewpoints and actions of African Americans, including Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Freedmen's Towns, and the Exodusters; (D) explain the circumstances surrounding increased violence and extremism such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), the Colfax Massacre, lynchings, race riots, and the Camp Logan Mutiny (The Houston Riot of 1917); (E) explain the impact of the convict leasing system on African Americans such as the Sugar Land 95; (F) explain how the rise of Jim Crow laws affected the life experiences of African Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; (G) describe the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson (1896); (H) analyze the social, economic, and political actions of African Americans in response to the Jim Crow era during the early 20th century such as the Great Migration, civil rights organizations, social organizations, political organizations, and organized labor unions; (I) examine the experiences of African American soldiers during and after World War I; and (J) describe the impact of African American military service from Reconstruction through World War I, including the role of the Buffalo Soldiers.
(5) History. The student understands change and continuity in the African American cultural identity during the Great Depression, World War II, and the Civil Rights Movement. The student is expected to: (A) compare the positive and negative effects of the Great Depression and New Deal on the social and economic status of African Americans in various geographic regions; (B) describe the impact of U.S. Supreme Court decisions Sweatt v. Painter (1950) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954); (C) describe the continued struggle for civil rights in America during this time in history such as the notable works of the NAACP, National Urban League, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and local leaders; (D) describe the interactions of the people of the diaspora relative to the struggle for civil rights; (E) describe the impact of racism during World War II; (F) explain the contributions of significant African American individuals and groups during World War II, including Doris "Dorie" Miller, the Tuskegee Airmen, and the 761st Tank Battalion; (G) analyze how the effects of World War II laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement such as Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981 and the contributions of A. Phillip Randolph, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Thurgood Marshall; (H) analyze the successes, failures, and ongoing impact of the Civil Rights Movement, including methods such as sit-ins, boycotts, marches, speeches, music, and organizations; and (I) evaluate the extent to which the Civil Rights Movement transformed American politics and society.
(6) History. The student understands the progress made and challenges faced by African Americans from the post-Civil Rights Era to contemporary times. The student is expected to: (A) identify and explain the issues confronting African Americans in the continuing effort to achieve equality; (B) describe the major achievements of contemporary African Americans and how their contributions have shaped the American experience such as John H. Johnson, Muhammad Ali, Fannie Lou Hamer, Shirley Chisholm, Earl G. Graves, Barbara Jordan, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Barack Obama; and (C) analyze the progress and challenges for African American men and women socially, economically, and politically from 1970 to the present such as the evolving role of education in the African American community.
(7) Geography. The student understands the impact of geographic factors on major events related to African Americans over time. The student is expected to: (A) explain the causes and effects of forced and voluntary migration on individuals, groups, and societies throughout African American history; (B) identify and explain the physical and human geographic factors that contributed to the Atlantic Slave Trade, the rise of the plantation system in the South, the development of textile mills in the North, and economic interdependence between the North and South; (C) explain the westward movement and the Great Migration and summarize their impact on African Americans; and (D) analyze how environmental changes impacted African American communities such as land use, settlement patterns, and urban development.
(8) Economics. The student understands ways in which African Americans have addressed opportunities, challenges, and strategies concerning economic well-being over time. The student is expected to: (A) analyze the effects of the Industrial Revolution and the roles of "King Cotton" and the cotton gin in the economies of the United States and the world; (B) explain how sharecropping and redlining limited economic opportunities for African Americans; (C) explain how economic conditions and racism contributed to the Great Migration; Cont'd...