Atlanta City Council pushing for state-approved ‘Atlanta History’ class

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The Atlanta City Council passed an initiative Monday calling for Atlanta Public Schools to work with the state to add an ‘Atlanta History’ class to its district-wide curriculum.

“Where we’ve come from frankly dictates the direction that we’re going. And yeah, we’ve had some dark days in Atlanta, but we’ve had some wonderful days,” said Atlanta City Councilperson Keisha Sean Waites.

Waites was a co-sponsor of Resolution 23-R-3146.

The initiative calls for the course to highlight ‘bleak’ and ‘difficult’ moments of Atlanta’s history.

“That’s what makes our city unique and special. It’s the fact that we’ve had some racial division at one time. It’s the fact that we’ve had missing and murdered children. That happened when I was 9 years old. Eric Middlebrooks was my first cousin. And yet, we still figured out a way to unify,” said Waites.

The course would include instruction around the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906, the Atlanta child murders of 1979 to 1981 and special attention to community leaders like C.T. Vivian, Julian Bond, Rev. Joseph E. Boone, William B Hartsfield, Sam Massell, Samuel Inman, Ivan Allen Jr. and Margaret Mitchell.

Waites said this course would not interfere with the state’s ban on divisive concepts around racism; legislation passed in the state legislature in April 2022.

“It’s totally different,” Waites said. “This has nothing to do with that particular conversation. This is a conversation about all of us and how we come together.”

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