>Opponents of the Francis Howell School District’s decision that Black studies must be taught from a “politically neutral” position say it is a bid to maintain “white supremacy.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/missouri-community-revolts-over-francis-howell-school-districts-whitewashed-black-history-coursesStudents, families, and activists have united in opposition to a Missouri school district’s decision to cancel two elective classes in Black studies, a move some students say is grounded in uplifting and maintaining white supremacy.
Even after the board decided to bring the classes back one week after the meeting—vowing the courses would be taught from a “politically-neutral” viewpoint—students have continued to fight against what they fear could be a “whitewashed curriculum.”
“[They] want to teach [Black history] from a whitewashed perspective,” education activist Heather Fleming told The Daily Beast, “that still deifies white supremacy.”
The Francis Howell School District in St. Charles County—just outside St. Louis—held its monthly board meeting on Dec. 21, 2023. However, advocates for Black history and literature courses say some board members, including president Adam Bertrand and vice president Randy Cook, slid the vote onto the agenda in a sneaky, last-minute move.
“I’m really tired of the different things coming on at the last minute without sharing it with the other board members at an adequate time to look at things,” Francis Howell School District Director Janet Stiglich said before the vote to adopt the agenda. “That’s why I’m not approving this agenda. To have a change in an item agenda put on at 6 o’clock last night is not fair to any of us.”
The room erupted in applause.
