Students, teachers and advocates fight against censorship in Alabama schools
Jamiyah Brown and about 30 other Black students at Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, were excited about a Black History Month program they were planning last winter.
They wanted to use dance, song and the spoken word to present a timeline of Black history 鈥 from enslavement to the Jim Crow era to the civil rights movement of the 1960s to the present.
The program was to open with several performers portraying enslaved people in shackles and rags going about typical daily chores 鈥 washing clothing, cooking and picking cotton 鈥 while singing spirituals. An audio recording of shackles dropping to the ground was to signify freedom.
As the timeline moved into segregation, a 鈥淐olored Only鈥 water fountain and enactment of Ruby Bridges鈥 integration of a Louisiana school were to have appeared on stage, followed by the March on Washington, narration of Martin Luther King鈥檚 credo of peaceful resistance and then his assassination.
The students were to reenact the Black Panther movement followed by a rap artist such as Tupac Shakur or Ice Cube talking about police brutality and poverty. The program was to end on a hopeful note, highlighting the founding of Black Greek-letter societies and ending with all the performers holding hands on stage as one strong unit.
School administrators nixed the plan.
The assistant principal told the students that the topic of slavery 鈥渕ade people uncomfortable鈥 and that the section had 鈥渢raumatized鈥 her, according to Brown. Instead, she instructed the students to perform 鈥渉appy songs鈥 by Beyonc茅 and the Jackson 5, Brown said, quoting her.
On Feb. 8, Brown, who was then a senior at the school, led a walkout of more than 200, mostly Black, fellow students. While they were exasperated by the gutting of the Black History Month program, they were more indignant about the frequent racist comments directed at them by the school鈥檚 white administration and teaching staff. Moreover, they were sure that the school disciplined Black students, who comprise about 55% of the student body, for so-called offenses while giving white students a pass for the same violations.
鈥淭he walkout wasn鈥檛 about the program but about racism in the school,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淭he students caught wind of what was going on. We knew it was bigger than Black History Month. The principal had burst into my classroom and said he鈥檇 make an example of me and would expel me so that I couldn鈥檛 graduate if I participated in Black History Month.鈥
The kind of censorship taking place in Tuscaloosa is not an isolated incident, but rather part of a pattern across the state and the result, in part, of Alabama鈥檚 state-sanctioned goal of whitewashing Black history and culture.
In 2021, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a state board of education resolution the teaching of concepts that promote so-called (CRT) 鈥 although the resolution never mentions CRT, and Ivey admitted at the time that CRT wasn鈥檛 being taught in schools.
In addition, this spring, for the third year in a row, conservative lawmakers tried to pass , which calls for censorship of open class discussion of race, religion, gender and sexual orientation 鈥 so-called 鈥渄ivisive concepts鈥 鈥 and authorizes punishment for public school teachers. Though it was defeated due to a concerted effort by Democratic leaders and pushback from students, parents, teachers and community leaders, the bill is expected to be reintroduced in 2024.
鈥淭he state will end up shooting itself in the foot by trying to keep 鈥榙ivisive concepts鈥 out of state-funded and higher education,鈥 said Katie Glenn, Southern Poverty Law Center senior policy associate. Glenn and have been opposing legislation like HB 7 since 2021.
Glenn noted of the state鈥檚 early childhood education director in April over the distribution of a training book for pre-kindergarten teachers that Ivey condemned for using 鈥渨oke concepts.鈥
鈥淭he most powerful thing that can happen is resistance by youth,鈥 Glenn said. 鈥淎s they [conservative legislators] make moves to implement HB 7, you will see more public outrage and involvement. It takes something horrible, like the firing, to make people see that this is serious.鈥
鈥楲ooming threat鈥
Seventeen U.S. states have laws similar to HB 7 that have deprived students of the educational freedom they and of their parents want for them. These laws have caused teachers to fear being disciplined or fired for unwittingly violating the law.
鈥淒iane,鈥 who asked that her real name not be used, teaches in an upscale, majority-white Birmingham-area school. She first noticed parents鈥 鈥渦nspecific鈥 criticisms aimed at teachers in community Facebook posts as COVID-19 waned in 2022.
鈥淎nything we talk about in class that falls under buzzwords like 鈥榬ace, gender, sexuality, equity鈥 that are usually associated with positive ideals draws red flags up in the community,鈥 she said. 鈥淭eachers fear that they will get in trouble for something innocent. It鈥檚 just this looming threat.
鈥淩ace conflict is a 鈥榯ouchy鈥 subject in Alabama,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e teach the Holocaust and read Anne Frank鈥檚 autobiography because it鈥檚 not a subject close to home and so people are not uncomfortable talking about it. We鈥檙e talking about Germans, not Black Americans they face every day in the South. I鈥檝e never gotten pushback when I teach To Kill a Mockingbird, but middle school kids don鈥檛 know their history yet 鈥 Jim Crow, racial stereotypes, inequality, which is what the book is about. So, without the teacher providing context, the book would be confusing.
鈥淢any of the parents read To Kill a Mockingbird when they were in school. If they ever objected in light of recent laws, I would want to ask them, 鈥楧id the book shape your thinking? Did it change anything for you [that explains] the reason you are scared of your child reading it? So, what are you afraid of?鈥欌
Early this school year, Diane and fellow teachers received an email from the school administration instructing them to call students by their government-documented birth name and pronouns based on their gender at birth, even if the child objects.
Diane pushed back against the name guidance but was told it was the law.
However, Alabama has not enacted any laws requiring teachers to refuse to use a student鈥檚 preferred name or pronouns consistent with their gender identity. The Legislature did pass in 2022 (SB 184 and HB 322) that prohibits , mandates that children use bathrooms based on their sex at birth, and requires teachers to report to parents any gender identity issues concerning their child that may arise in school. The 人兽性交 filed a lawsuit challenging provisions of SB 184 that make it a crime to provide transgender minors puberty blockers or hormone therapy. A federal judge has blocked enforcement of those provisions pending trial.
Still, these laws are clearly sending a warning message to public school administrators.
鈥淭he school is overcorrecting based on the mix of anti-trans laws,鈥 said Diego Soto, 人兽性交 senior staff attorney for the 人兽性交+ Rights and Special Litigation practice group.
鈥楽anitized version of history鈥
Meanwhile, on the Gulf Coast in Mobile, high school teacher Mark Tenhundfeld joined the chorus objecting to in a May 3 letter to his state legislators. Tenhundfeld, who later retired after teaching in Alabama schools for 11 years, taught Advanced Placement and honors classes in U.S. government and politics. In more recent years he added a class he designed called 鈥淎labama in the Supreme Court.鈥
鈥淚 am a 63-year-old, white male schoolteacher who was born in Mobile and who currently teaches social studies in a private school in Mobile,鈥 Tenhundfeld wrote.
鈥淗B 7 should be rejected because it insists on a sanitized version of history by saying, in essence, 鈥榤ove along, there鈥檚 nothing to see here鈥 when it comes to past race relations,鈥 Tenhundfeld wrote. 鈥淚t prioritizes the appearance of harmony over the substance. And it places teachers on the frontline of a battle that need not be fought. Relationships are strengthened by honesty. 鈥 Acting as if the problems don鈥檛 exist may lead to a mirage of tranquility but real frustration on the part of those who feel aggrieved.鈥
Tenhundfeld listed a slew of important American history topics that HB 7 could possibly prohibit, including Reconstruction; Jim Crow laws; the Alabama Constitution of 1901, in which racial discrimination laws in areas such as voting and education were codified; ; and major Supreme Court decisions surrounding equal protection under the law, such as and .
For Carita Coen, a Black mother who also lives in Mobile, discussions of race in the South have never been easy. Coen鈥檚 son graduated from a Catholic school last May.
鈥淭here is a lot of censorship in class around Black history, national origin, gender and religion and what the authentic truth is,鈥 Coen said. 鈥淲hether HB 7 is passed or not, I have always thought that there is a fine line between what you鈥檙e allowed to say about race and what you can鈥檛. You can鈥檛 teach this or that because it may offend someone.鈥
鈥楳ental acrobatics鈥櫬
Though they claim teaching the truth about race should not be allowed, HB 7鈥檚 sponsors don鈥檛 seem to mind offending Black people when making their pitch for the benefits of repressive education.
鈥淵ou see them perform mental acrobatics to introduce such one-sided white supremacist legislation,鈥 said Camille Bennett, founder and executive director of Project Say Something. 鈥淭heir arguments are outlandish.鈥
She recalled one conversation with a legislator who told her that 鈥溾榮lavery wasn鈥檛 that bad for everyone鈥 and that some enslaved people benefited because their education was paid for. He mentioned .鈥
Bennett has been lobbying legislators to defeat the bill since 2021 and has organized a series of public hearings and press conferences outside the Capitol to raise awareness of the bill and its potential impacts. During public hearings, she has also pointed out the inherent hypocrisy of the state paying for maintenance of on public land, when HB 7 has a provision that says the state cannot discuss 鈥榙ivisive concepts.鈥欌
鈥淲e discussed the intersections of the and CRT and the hypocrisy of protecting Confederate monuments while erasing Black history,鈥 Bennett said. 鈥淲e were encouraged when Democratic lawmakers Merika Coleman, Barbara Boyd and Prince Chestnut used Project Say Something鈥檚 talking points during 2023 House and Senate public hearings.鈥澛
At Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, the 2023 Black History Month program was a big disappointment to the student planners. The program included performers dancing to the Jackson 5, Afro Caribbean, Afro Latinx and African music, and presentations by fraternity representatives from historically Black colleges and universities.
鈥淲e wished we could have done more,鈥 said Brown, currently a college student.
There were no 鈥渉appy鈥 Beyonc茅 songs, because Brown was supposed to play the part and the principal threatened to keep her from graduating if she played any role in the program.
鈥淚 can only imagine if we had wanted to add Tupac Shakur,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淸The assistant principal] would have screamed to the top of her lungs.鈥
Photo at top: On Feb. 8, 2023, Jamiyah Brown led a walkout at Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to protest racist comments directed toward the school's Black students by its white administration and teaching staff. (Credit: Jamiyah Brown)
