...AND HOW NOT To A Critique of the Portland Baseline Essays

BY ERICH MARTEL

EACHERS, PARENTS, and students are justified in rect Eurocentric distortions of history, many of their T wanting multi-cultural curricula that reflect the claims and theories turn out to be little more than achievements of the world's diverse cultures. Older cur- "Africanized" versions of discredited and discarded Euro- ricula often reflect a bias that denied or neglected the pean ideas. genuine contributions of Africa. But teachers who want A 19th century conception of race binds the essays reliable information on Africaia and African-American together. They try to portray all Africans across thou- history often don't know where to turn. Many have sands of years and miles as part of a single "race" and cul- unfortunately looked to unreliable books and publica- ture simply on the basis of a few observable physical fea- tions by Afrocentric writers. tures, such as skin color and hair form. According to The term "Afrocentrism" has engendered semantic Philip Curtin, a professor of African history at Johns Hop- confusion, meaning different things to different people. kins University, "The fundamental problem is that [the Some scholars, such as Russell Adams, chairman of the social studies essay] puts forward racial theories that Afro-American Studies Department at Howard Universi- have been long ago abandoned by mainline scholars of ty, describe several types of Afrocentrism, ranging from Africa."3 a curricular emphasis on Afro-American culture and her- Despite this, the essays' many inaccuracies have itage, on the one hand, to undocumented assertions and gained a foothold in a number of school districts. Two pseudoscience, on the other. In this article, I use the term widely reported distortions are that ancient Egypt was a to connote undocumented assertions about the African black nation and that the achievements of ancient Greece past. This is the most commonly employed usage of the had African origins. term in the general media and in academic critiques of • "Ancient Egypt was a black nation" or Egypt Afrocentrism, such as those by Howard University clas- was "The Land of the Blacks," claim the essays on sicist Frank Snowden, and Kwame Anthony Appiah of art and music. Harvard's Department of Afro-American Studies. Appiah "Black" and "white" are hard to define. Ancient Egyp- describes an "Afrocentric paradigm; which holds that tian and Greek views of skin color were not the products "Western scholarship.., is hopelessly Eurocentric" hav- of a legacy of racial discrimination, as they are in the mod- ing "concealed facts about the African origins of certain ern . According to Frank J. Yurco, an Egyp- central elements of Western civilization" and which tologist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chica- assumes "a single African culture, shared by everyone go, these terms are simply a "chimera--cultural baggage from the civilizations of the Upper Nile thousands of from our own society that can only be imposed artificially years ago to the thousand or so language zones of con- on ancient Egyptian society."4 Moreover, Yurco points to temporary Africa" studies in physical anthropology and ancient Egyptian art The African American Baseline Essays,2 devel- that suggest the ancient Egyptians "were of varying com- oped by the .school system in Portland, Oregon, are plexions of color, from the light Mediterranean type (like among the most widespread Afrocentric teacher Queen Nefertiti), to the light brown of Middle Egypt, to resources. Educators should be aware of their crip- the darker brown of Upper Egypt, to the darkest shade pling flaws. around Aswan and the First Cataract region, where even The essays divide into six separate sections, each try- Erich Martel teaches Worm History and Advanced Place- ing to detail African and African-American contributions ment U.S. History at Woodrow Wilson High School in to art, language arts, math, music, and science; the his- Washington, D.C., and is a member of the Washington tory essay aims to survey political developments from Teachers Union. Since 1992, he has served on the Associ- ancient times to the recent past. ation of Supervision and Curriculum Development's These essays might as well be (ASCD) History Focus Group, which is evaluating nation- called "Egypt-centric," however, al standards for history education. since so much of their content This article is an expanded version of an essay that revolves around ancient Egypt. appeared in Alternatives to Afrocentrism, published earli- Openly disdainful of profession- er this year by the Center for the New American Commu- al Egyptologists, most of the nity, a project of the Manhattan Institute. Detailed cri- authors attempt major revisions tiques of the Portland Essays, upon which this article is of ancient Egyptian history. based, are available by writing Erich Martel at Wilson Although they claim to advance H.S., Nebraska & Chesapeake Sts., N.W., Washington, DC long ignored facts and to cor- 20016.

SPRING 1994 AMERICAN FEDERATIONOF TEACHERS 33 MUSEUM OF PINE ARTS, BOSTON today, the population shifts to Nubian.''~ incorrect according to current evidence. ,2 The phrase "Land of the Blacks" is a mistranslation of The "Science and Technology" essay endorses pseu- the ancient Egyptian word "KMT" (Kemet). It means "the do-scientific notions, including "the extra-terrestrial ori- black land," and refers to the black alluvial soil deposited gin of the Nile" and "water-laden micro-comets" as the by the Nile's yearly flooding, not the skin color of near- source of the oceans. The author misinterprets a small by residents. "KMT" contrasts the word "Deshret," or bird effigy in the Cairo Museum as a model of a glider and "the red land," which refers to the surrounding desert. writes that ancient Egyptians developed full-sized glid- The ancient Egyptians, who owed their lives to the Nile ers 4,000 years ago and "used their early planes for trav- and the soil it made rich, often called themselves "the el expeditions and recreation." He attributes mystical people of the black land."6 powers to the pyramids and misinterprets artifacts in try- Linguistic, pictographic, and archaeological evidence ing to show that the ancient Egyptians experimented point primarily to a Saharan origin of the ancient Egyp- with antennae and electricity. He also makes the startling tians from the west, not the south. This migration claim that "for the ancient Egyptians as well as contem- occurred following the gradual desiccation of the Sahara porary Africans worldwide, there is no distinction and after 5500 B.C.E.7 thus no separation between science and religion." Studies do show the early pre-dynastic (pre-3150 Bernard Ortiz de MonteUano, a professor of anthro- B.C.E.) population of southern ("Upper") Egypt having pology at Wayne State University in , comments affinities with tropical Africans.8 A recent study compar- that "the 'science' that the essay describes is pseudo sci- ing pre-dynastic crania from northern ("Lower") Egypt ence--a farrago of unsubstantiated and outrageous with those from Europe and several regions in Africa con- claims, arguments for the existence of the paranormal, cluded that "the attempt to force the Egyptians into and advocacy of the supernatural as an integral part of either a 'black' or a 'white' category has no biological jus- science"'3 Writing in the PhiDelta Kappan, Irving Klotz, tification.... Egypt was basically Egyptian from the professor emeritus of chemistry at Northwestern Uni- Neolithic right up to historic times.''9 versity, notes that "[t]he most devastating effect of the • "The African Origins of Greek development spread of this kind of material taught in the Portland Base- [were] an unquestioned reality of the Greeks," line Essays will be the inculcation in a generation of according to the art essay, or "Egypt gave birth to young people of an uncritical, superficial attitude toward •.. Western civilization," claims the social studies science." t4 essay. Even the portion of the essay devoted to African-Amer- A central Afrocentrist tenet is the claim in the social ican scientists contains easily avoided inaccuracies. The studies essay that ancient Egypt was "the first great civi- essay states that " appointed Benjamin lization" and that it was pivotal in the formation of Bauneker to survey the site for the capital, Washington, Mesopotamia, ancient Greece, and ultimately Western D.C." and that Banneker "wrote a proposal for the estal> civilization. In addition, several of the essays include bib- lishment of a Unit.ed States Department of Peace." Had liographical sources that propose the even more radical the author consulted The Life of by claim that other geographically distant civilizations, such , which is considered the definitive biogra- as the Ohnec of Mesoamerica, were heavily influenced phy, he would have discovered no evidence for these by ancient Egypt. claims. Jefferson appointed Andrew EUicott to conduct Egypt and Mesopotamia shared contemporaneous the survey; Ellicott made Banneker his assistant for beginnings in the late 4th Millenium. Contact and, con- roughly three months in 1791. Benjamin Rush authored sequently, two-way "borrowings" in the realms of culture the "Department of Peace" proposal; the confusion arose and technology took place. Nonetheless, both trace their among earlier biographers because the proposal origins and development primarily to local factors. While appeared in Banneker's 1793 almanac.'5 Egypt (and Mesopotamia via the Phoenicians) did make Another telling inaccuracy lies in repeating the wide- important contributions to ancient Greece, indigenous ly circulated rumor that Dr. Charles Drew, who pion- Greek achievements were central to that process. '° eered blood plasma storage, died after an auto accident Scholars of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica see the origins because "not one of several nearby white hospitals of Olmec civilization and its artifacts in indigenous, not would provide the blood transfusions he so desperately Egyptian, influences." needed." In the 1982 Dictionary ofAmerican Negro Bi~ graph)/, however, historian Rayford Logan writes, "Con° THER PROBLEMS with the Portland essays run flicting versions to the contrary, Drew received prompt O much deeper. Worldwide phenomena such as pen- medical attention."16 recently tatonic scale in music, use of prophecy, body language, reported that Charlene Drew Jarvis, the daughter of Dr. creation stories, rock art, as well as the earliest pottery, Charles Drew, is actively trying to "destroy the myth" sculpture, and musical instruments are often described about the mistreatment of her famous father because she as if they originated in Africa. Features that might be con- "discovered in her work on the local board of the Amer- sidered unique to Africa, such as trickster stories, are not ican Red Cross that some African Americans .cite the highlighted at all. According to George Washington Uni- story of discrimination against her father" as one of the versity anthropologist Alison Brooks, a specialist in pre- reasons for not donating blood or organs. '7 historic African archaeology, dates and dynasties are con- At best, the essays' errors demonstrate a severe fused. In addition, dates and periods overlap, contradict amount of sloppiness; at worst, they reveal an ideolog- each other, and are not consistent among the six essays. icaUy driven willingness to prefer the claims of non-spe- In the social studies essay, for example, almost all the cialists over the documented research of trained profes- dates associated with human evolutionary stages are sionals. The most flagrant example of this is the author

34 AMERICANEDUCATOR SPRING 1994 of the science essay. Although credited as a "research sci- "... Many students already have been misled and entist" at Argonne National Laboratories, he is described confused by the inaccuracies and omissions [of by the Director of Public Information at Argonne as an Afrocentrism]... but the damage to future gener- industrial hygiene technician with a high school diplo- ations is incalculable if this trend continues."2° ma) 8 The real solution is for teachers to stay informed of The Portland Baseline Essays do contain some accu- developments in their fields of study. They should read rate information. The math essay's coverage of ancient professional journals, attend conferences, and establish Egypt includes a good deal of reliable information. The links to local universities and museums. They should con- art, language arts, and music essays, despite many errors sult the growing number of serious scholars of the in their coverage of ancient Egypt, appear to treat their African past and of the more recent African-American African-American sections accurately. Nevertheless, the experience. They should argue among themselves in fac- essays as a whole are seriously flawed. Teachers who ulty lounges. They should remain open to new ideas, but look to the Portland essays to infuse African historical always skeptical of dramatic and revisionist claims. While content into their classes face an impossible task: how modern views of the past constantly change as new data to sift reliable information from the specious. emerge and new interpretations come forth, all of us should employ caution when confronted by claims pur- ENRY LOUIS Gates, Jr., chair of Afro-American Stud- porting to reveal a "real truth" that sweeps away well- ies at Harvard, points out the dangers this kind of H documented information about the past. [] Afrocentrism poses to the field of Afro-American studies: "For our field to survive, we need to encourage a true proliferation of rigorous methodologies, rather than seek END NOTES ideological conformity. African American studies should 1 Frank Snowden, Jr., "Whither Mrocentrism?" Georgetown (Winter 1992), be the home of free inquiry into the very complexity of p. 7; Kwame Anthony Appiah, "Europe Upside Down: Fallacies of the New being of African descent in the world, rather than a place Afrocentrism" Times Literary Supplement (Feb. 12, 1993), p. 24.. 2 Asa HiUiard & Carolyn Leonard (eds.),Afrtcan American Baseline Essays. where critical inquiry is drowned out by ethnic funda- (Portland, OR: Portland Public Schools, 1990). mentalism." ,9 3 Philip Curtin, Letter to author, February 18, 1991. If they are to gain acceptance, revisionist interpreta- 4 Frank Yurco, "Were the Ancient Egyptians Black or White?" BiblicalArchae- tions of history must be based upon impeccable and thor° ological Review (Sept.-Oct. 1989), p. 24. ough research. The historiography of American history 5 ibid., p. 24. is replete with examples of inaccuracies and outright 6 Frank Yurco, Letter to author, June 4, 1990. myths that were shattered by scholarly revisionist 7 Frank Yurco, "Letters to the Editor: Reply."BiblicalArchaeologicalReview research. Such outstanding scholars as W.E.B. DuBois, (March-April 1990), p. 66. Carter G. Woodson, John Hope Franklin, C. Vann Wood- 8 Shomarka Keita, "Studies in Ancient African Crania,"American Journal of ward, and Kenneth Stampp were among the many who PhysicalAnthropolog3¢, v. 83 (1990), pp. 35-48. played crucial roles in opening up textbooks and curric- 9 C. Loring Brace et al., "Clines and Clusters Versus 'Race': A Test in Ancient ula to the African-American experience. Because of solid Egypt and A Case of a Death on the Nile," Yearbook of Physical Anthro- pology, v. 36 (1993), p. 25. grounding, their research withstood criticism and could 10 Mary Lefkowitz, "Not Out of Africa: The Origins of Greece and the Illu- not be ignored. By contrast, the Afrocentrist historical sions of the Afrocentrists." The New Republic (February 10, 1992), pp. 29- revisions, such as those contained in the African-Ameri- 36; and Mary Letkowitz, "The Myth of 'Stolen Legacy.'~ Society (March- can Baseline Essays, are outside this rigorous tradition of April 1994), pp. 27-33. scholarship. Most of the consultants and authors of the 11 Kenneth Feder, Frauds, Myths and Mysteries: Scienceand Pseudoscience Portland essays are not professional scholars of ancient in Archaeology. (Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, Egyptian or African history. Frank Snowden, professor 1990), pp. 75-78. 12 Alison Brooks, "Fallacies about Prehistoric Africa in the Portland Curricu- emeritus of classics at Howard University and author of lum Essays" (unpublished review, 1991), pp. 1-9. Blacks in Antiquity and Before Color Prejudice." The 13 Bernard Ortiz de Montellano, "Avoiding Egyptocentric Pseudoscience: Ancient View of Blacks, has analyzed many of the Afro- Colleges Must Help Set Standards for Schools" Chronicle of Higher Edu- centric writings on ancient history upon which the cation (March 25, 1992), p. B1-2. essays' Afrocentric claims are based. These writings are 14 Irving M. Klotz, "Multicultural Perspectives In Science Education: One Pre- listed in the essays' bibliographies. Snowden states: scription for Failure," Phi Delta Kappan (November 1993), p. 268. 15 Silvio Bedini, The Life of Benjamin Banneker (New York: Charles Scrib- "Though Afrocentrists may be competent in net's Sons, 1972), p. 109. A new edition containing recently discovered their own specialties, many of their statements information and a computerized comparison of Banneker's ephemerides about blacks in the ancient world demonstrate for his almanacs with published almanacs of his contemporaries will soon clearly that they have not approached the ancient be published by Landmark Enterprises in Rancho Cordova, California. evidence with the relevant scholarly apparatus. 16 Rayford W. Logan, "Drew, Charles Richard," Dictionary of American Negro Biography (Logan and Winston, eds.) (New York: Norton and Com- Many shortcomings have resulted: unfamiliarity pany, 1982), p. 192. with and a failure to use primary sources; a reliance 17 Patrice Gains, "Armed with the Truth in a Fight for Lives," The Washing- on the undocumented opinions of fellow Afrocen- ton Post(April 10, 1994), p. B-5. trists (always the same few); a tendency to make 18 David Baurac, Letter, May 22, 1991; Michael Marriott, "As a Discipline general statements on the basis of a few lines from Advances, Questions Arise on Scholarship? The New York Times (August a single author or from a few texts without consid- 11, 1991), p. 12. ering the total picture of blacks in antiquity; the use 19 Henry Louis Gates, Jr., "Beware of the New Pharaohs." Newsweek (Sept. of language charged with political rhetoric; and a 23, 1991), p. 47. 20 Frank Snowden Jr., "Whither Mrocentrism?" Georgetown(Winter 1992), tendency to read a 'white conspiracy' into scholar- p. 7. ly interpretations of the ancient evidence. SPRING 1994 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS 35