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Illinois Inclusive American History Commission prepares report on how educators can teach new expanded Black & Asian-American history

Illinois is expanding its public school history curriculum to be more inclusive. That includes a more robust Black history that includes pre-enslavement history dating back to 3,000 BCE & the Civil Rights Movement. Illinois will also become the first state to requireAsian-American history.

Wamecca Rodriguez is a middle school library educator in Yorkville. She’s part of the Inclusive American History Commission formed by the Illinois State Board of Education. The group is preparing a report to help teachers implement the new history curriculum.

“Our goal," she said, "was to try and figure out, for me anyway, what resources could teachers and schools and districts have access to help that job go well?”

As a librarian, that means advocating for online library databases so every Illinois school has access to information and stories that paint a complete picture of American history.

Rodriguez says she never learned about issues like Japanese-American internment in school and wants to make sure the stories of Americans from historically marginalized communities aren’t omitted for this generation of students.

“Teaching American history should be about everything it means to be American," she said. "All of the stories, all of the perspectives so we have a fuller look so I think we can be more proud of our history instead of being like, 'we're proud of a lie, or we're proud of a partial truth,' I want to be proud of the full truth of what it means to be American. I think our students need that and deserve that.”

The commission’s report is due out soon, by the end of this school year at the latest.

In 2019, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law mandating schools teach a unit on LGBTQ+ peoplein American history. Both the expanded Black history and Asian-American history curriculum will be required starting in the 2022-23 school year.

Peter joins WNIJ as a graduate of North Central College. He is a native of Sandwich, Illinois.