Florida added teeth to its Black history school mandate, honoring Miami’s legacy | Opinion

One-hundred years ago, Carter G. Woodson launched what was then called Negro History Week to address a national narrative that excluded Black achievement. What began as an act of scholarly insistence became Black History Month — and ultimately a mandate.

But Woodson knew commemoration without education was hollow. The task, then and now, is fidelity: teaching Black history accurately, fully and without fear. Woodson did not work alone. He was a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and the fraternity played an instrumental role in the early promotion of Black history. Long before state recognition, Omega men across the country organized lectures, school programs and community observances — turning scholarship into civic instruction.

Woodson understood a timeless truth: ideas endure when institutions steward them.

Florida has mandated the teaching of African American history since 1994. When recent debates over critical race theory threatened to chill or distort instruction, the real risk was that fear would replace facts. My work as a state legislator at the time focused on ensuring that the longstanding mandate remained meaningful — shielded from ideological overreach that could either erase history or reduce it to caricature.

The result was structural accountability. I authored legislation in 2022 and 2023 — now Florida law — to require school districts to report annually on their African American history instruction, with enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance. These laws also established standards that move beyond once-a-year February assemblies that too often substitute ceremony for substance. Compliance now requires integrated instruction across the social studies curriculum, presenting Black history as a continuous, multifaceted American story — encompassing civic leadership, innovation culture, economics and global influence, rather than focusing only on slavery and the Civil Rights era.

This means students studying the Constitution learn about Frederick Douglass’s critique of it; those studying American innovation encounter Garrett Morgan and Granville Woods; those studying modern politics study Barbara Jordan and Thurgood Marshall — not in isolation, but in context.

This is not about indoctrination. It is about accuracy. It is about teaching that enslaved Africans built wealth they could not own; that segregation was enforced by law; that progress came through constitutional struggle, lawful protest and strategic litigation; and that Black excellence flourished even under constraint. These truths do not divide us — they educate us.

Yet laws do not self-execute. A century after Woodson’s call, responsibility now rests with citizens — parents, educators, community leaders and voters — to hold the system accountable. School districts must comply. Curricula must reflect the law’s intent. And when they do not, accountability must follow. Civic vigilance is the safeguard that turns promise into practice.

Miami’s history underscores why this matters: from Overtown — the Harlem of the South — to the Black pioneers who helped build this city, including D.A. Dorsey, Florida’s first Black millionaire, and Judge Lawson Thomas, who integrated Miami’s judiciary. Black achievement here is not peripheral. It came from entrepreneurs, educators, artists and public servants. Even my own victory in a countywide contested race for county court Judge in 2024 is a historic first for Miami-Dade.

Miami’s achievements remind us of what is at stake. As we mark 100 years of Black history observance, let us honor the past not just with remembrance, but with resolve to protect truthful education, reject fear-based narratives and insist that our institutions meet their obligations. Black history is American history. Miami’s history proves it. And the next 100 years depend on our willingness to teach it — fully, faithfully and without compromise.

Miami’s history shows what happens when achievement is documented, identity is affirmed and opportunity is pursued. When I was a legislator, I carried Woodson’s lesson into policy.

Christopher Benjamin is a Miami-Dade County judge and a former member of the Florida House.