As an individual living in the southern part of the U.S., I am appalled by the amount of historical misinformation enveloping our society. Misinformed perspectives birth misguided beliefs, such as the false notion that Africans benefited from slavery. This ignorance is not the fault of the individual but of the educational system that promotes skewed historical narratives. Our history lessons sugarcoat harsh truths, portraying figures like Abraham Lincoln as heroes who hated slavery without fully explaining the reality, which was that he really didn't do much of anything, and didn't have the means or backbone to accomplish the feat he's credited with. They tell us about the "state rights" that led to the secession of the South, subtly passing over the true cause: the fight to retain slavery. This doesn't even include the inarguably false idea that Christopher Columbus discovered America, when he never even set foot on U.S soil, and in reality, only discovered Cuba.

As a child living in the Virginia school system, the education they have on history is inaccurate, to say the least, and black history doesn't explain the difference between America's slavery, and how slavery originated, which, according to Michael Harriot, is the "race-based, multigenerational, inescapable, constitutional servitude that reduces human being to property." This book being incorporated in Virginia schools curriculum will help people understand not only the truth of American history, but will also show how slavery, segregation, and racism still effects people of color even today.

In a 2011 Pew Research Center poll, 48% of Americans believed the Civil War was mainly about states' rights.

To rectify this grave situation, we propose incorporating "Black AF History: The Un-whitewashed History of America" into the curriculum of Virginia schools as a start. This book tells an accurate, comprehensive account of our nation's past, shattering the illusion of the whitewashed history we have been fed, and creates actual faces to these slaves, who were warriors, doctors, teachers, and most importantly, people who had lives beyond slavery. According to a study by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, public schools devote between 8.3% and 9.4% of their history curriculum to teaching about Black history, this is an unacceptable amount of time dedicated to black history, and due to this, the little amount of black history education ignores the majority of the actual story of black history, even if they taught the correct story, there just wouldn't be enough time, that's why I suggest having this book introduced in the curriculum, to make it so that students can have a cohesive and concise understanding of American history.

Disallowing truth and perpetuating half-truths is a disservice to our society and future generations. We demand our educational institutions to stop cementing misconceptions and start teaching accurate versions of our shared history. Join us in advocating for historical integrity in education by signing this petition, and including this book into the Virginia curriculum.