Expanding Education on Injustice

By: Kate Garton

We are approaching the 100-year anniversary of the race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma that took place from May 31st to June 1st, 1921. While the United States has made great strides on the path to equality since then, some are concerned that children are not being properly and honestly educated on African American history.

Bill H-B-09, written by Zeennah Akorede and Mia Camarossa, aims to raise awareness on events such as the Tulsa Race Riots, the Springfield Race Riot, and the Spring Rocks massacre in history classes across the state of Illinois.

 Akoreda and Camarossa are hoping that this legislation will help educate students on acts of injustice committed against African Americans and minorities. The bill also hopes to demonstrate how those acts have had lasting effects on people of color today. 

“[People of color] were attacked because they were seen as less, and that’s one of the reasons that [people of color] are attacked now,” says Senate sponsor Akroede. 

This bill will be financed by raising taxes and administering a fine of $1,000 for public school districts and a $5,000 fine for private school districts who fail to incorporate these events into their curriculum.

 Akoreda has hope that the bill will pass because “this is the perfect time for this [piece of legislation], a time where people of color are routinely attacked. A time where people of color are without this awareness of their past.”