South Cook News

Illinois State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D-Bridgeview) is proposing all Illinois high school students be required to take a class in “Arab-American history.”

House Bill 5400, filed by Rashid on Feb. 9, would mandate “every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Arab American history, including the history of Arab Americans in the State and the Midwest, as well as the contributions of Arab Americans from the 19th century onward.”

The requirement would start in the 2025-26 school year.

In Jan. 2019, Illinois required all K-12 public school students take a unit of “black history ,” including “the history of the pre-enslavement of Black people from 3,000 BCE to AD 1619, the African slave trade, slavery in America, the study of the reasons why Black people came to be enslaved, the vestiges of slavery in this country, and the study of the American civil rights renaissance.”

Illinois “Inclusive Curriculum Law” took effect on July 1, 2020, mandating that all Illinois public schools “include the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in the teaching of Illinois and United States history,” beginning with 4th grade (ages 9-10).

In July 2021, Illinois instituted a mandate that all public school students take a unit of “Asian-American history,” including “contributions of Asian Americans toward advancing (black) civil rights from the 19th century onward.”

Rashid represents Illinois House District 21, which includes all or parts of Bedford Park, Berwyn, Bridgeview, Brookfield, Chicago's 13th and 23rd wards, Cicero, Countryside, Hodgkins, Justice, La Grange, La Grange Park, North Riverside, Riverside and Summit.

He lives in Bridgeview.

Rashid was elected in 2022, defeating incumbent State Rep. Michael Zalewski (D-Riverside) in the Democrat primary with 52 percent of the vote, before winning the November general election over Republican Matthew Schultz with 66 percent of the vote.

Rashid is running for re-election and will be on the Democratic primary ballot on March 19, 2024.