Florida’s academic standards distort the contributions that enslaved Africans made to American society

While a Florida curriculum implies that enslaved Africans ‘benefited’ from skills acquired through slavery, history shows they brought knowledge and skills to the US that predate their captivity.

By Rodney Coates, Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Miami University

Enslaved Africans built landmarks like the White House, the U.S. Capitol and New York’s Wall Street. Bettmann via Getty Images

The state of Florida ignited a controversy when it released a set of 2023 academic standards that require fifth graders to be taught that enslaved Black people in the U.S. “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their benefit.”

As a researcher specializing in the history of race and racism in the U.S., I — like a growing chorus of critics — see that education standard as flawed and misleading.

Whereas Florida would have students believe that enslaved Black people “benefited” by developing skills during slavery, the reality is that enslaved Africans contributed to the nation’s social, cultural and economic well-being by using skills they had already developed before captivity. What follows are examples of the skills the Africans brought with them as they entered the…