After heavy criticism from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state College Board released an official curriculum Feb. 3 for its new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies – stripped of much of the subject matter that had angered the governor and other conservatives.
The College Board purged the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience, and Black feminism. In addition, it ushered out some politically fraught topics, such as the discussion of the Black Lives Matter organization and the debate over reparations from the formal curriculum.
DeSantis rejected the course due to its content being too controversial in the eyes of conservative parents.
This action sparked outrage across the country.
The National Council for Black Studies (NCBS), of which Alabama State University professor of history Bertis English, Ph.D. is a proud member, drafted a statement responding to Florida’s decision to strip down the AP course.
“The Florida Department of Education’s decision to reject the African American Studies pilot course is one element in a systematic plan to suppress instruction engaging the experiences of people of African descent in Florida’s public higher education institutions,” she said. “This latest attempt to subject academic practice and institutions to such retrogressive and racist policies violates students’ moral and legal right to a quality education free from deliberate falsifications, discriminatory exclusions and “sanitized” depictions of life and history immune from critical scrutiny. Also, these heavy-handed and unwarranted political intrusions in the educational process in attempts to dictate narrow notions of education have a negative and chilling effect on teachers, limiting their ability to provide the inclusive quality education students deserve and of which they are capable and which they are committed to. Faculty members at some institutions have already begun to modify course content to comply with recently enacted, draconian laws restricting the content of the materials examining the experiences of people of African descent that can be presented to students.”
While some of these topics may indeed sound controversial, many still believe that they are topics worth considering in a learning environment.
“It should be taught because it’s still a part of history,” said sophomore Miyeisha Thomas. “It shouldn’t be forgotten or tampered with.”
Black Lives Matter is one of the more controversial topics due to the police brutality African Americans face. While the movement has been active since 2014, in 2020, it followed an immense reemergence following the murder of George Floyd.
“I think what makes BLM so powerful and provocative is that white folk have to declare that Black Lives Matter,” said Derryn Moten, Ph.D., professor of history and chairman of the department. “One would think that such a statement would be unnecessary in the wealthiest, most powerful and oldest democracy in the world, and yet, it is necessary because a white police officer shot and killed unarmed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, and a white police officer put his knee and full body weight on the neck of George Floyd for nearly ten minutes, asphyxiating him.”
DeSantis defended the state’s decision by arguing that the course lacked a critical perspective, which Moten disagreed with.
“I am not sure what the DeSantis means by “critical perspective” unless it means that one has to provide as nuanced an account of history as possible, by which, I mean good and evil pervades these stories on both sides,” Moten said. “Not all white people were guilty, and not all Black people were innocent of the crimes of enslavement, exploitation and assault. I cite Maya Angelou’s “I know Why the Caged Bird Sings” as an example. Rape is rape, and it does not matter if your rapist is a relative.”
DeSantis further argued that an African American studies course lacks educational value and will only make white students feel guilty about their race.
“What he said was just an excuse,” said sophomore Terran Newkirk. “They shouldn’t be feeling guilty about that, but they need to know what we personally go through as Black individuals.”
Sophomore Marcus Samuel feels that there is a prominent underlying factor in the rejection of the course.
“I feel like there’s still a matter of racism going on today,” he said. “We’re still looking up to the white people in charge.”
Joseph Caver, an adjunct professor of history, believes that DeSantis is just saying what he thinks will get him the most votes.
“The nature of man is constant,” Caver said. “The same battles Dr. Carter G. Woodson and former ASU President Harper Councill Trenholm fought in the first half of the 20th century to tell the story of the African American journey. The descendants of those who opposed Black education now oppose the teaching of African American history in our schools. DeSantis is using this sentiment, which has always existed, to garner votes in the upcoming primary election.”
The backlash of this censorship has expanded across the country, and pushback against a refusal to teach African American studies reached Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.
On Feb. 8, 2023, over 200 students participated in a walkout protest due to school administration telling them that their student-run Black History Month program could not reference anything that happened before the 1970s. This included slavery, the Black Panthers and the Civil Rights Movement.
This is still an ongoing conflict with the fierce debate between liberals and conservatives on the ethics of Florida’s decision. There is also a worry that this decision will spread to other states rejecting the study of African American history.
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History released a statement regarding the efforts of DeSantis and the College Board.
“By limiting discussions of the allegedly controversial subjects and scholars to optional projects, the College Board has effectively eliminated them from the course. The effort to excise theories such as ‘intersectionality’ and to replace them with generic concepts misrepresents the core concepts and theories in the (trans)discipline.”