Infusion of Afrocentric Content into the School Curriculum

Abstract

This article is a discussion of significant incidents and issues that pertain to recent efforts to infuse Afrocentric content into the U.S. public school curriculum.2 The focus here is on developments within the past decade, as highlighted by a case study of the School District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two distinct historical developments among African American people inform what can be called a movement for Afrocentric content infusion. The first is the late 1960s mass call by parents and community leaders for more control over their schools. The second development is the popularization of the Afrocentric idea and the embracing of African culture by African Americans. In addition, the seemingly increasing severity of social problems confronting African American youths is an alarming development that has lent urgency to this movement. Carpenter-Huffman, Hall, and Sumner (1974) provide a useful method by which any attempt to introduce a school reform can be evaluated. This method is used here applied to the Afrocentric curriculum movement. An examination of the efforts to infuse Afrocentric content into the curriculum of Philadelphia's public