Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at an annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition on Nov. 19, 2022, in Las Vegas. DeSantis’ administration blocked a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies.
John Locher, Associated Press
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration blocked a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies.
The state’s Department of Education wrote a letter to the College Board on Jan. 12, stating that the course “is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value,” as first reported by National Review.
“In the future, should College Board be willing to come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content, FDOE will always be willing to reopen the discussion,” the letter said, per Reuters.
This course is the first of its kind. Currently, it’s being piloted in select schools as the College Board plans to roll out the program in the 2024-2025 school year.
According to Nikki Taylor, the chair of the Howard University History Department, the course offers “a solid understanding of how African Americans have shaped America, its history, laws, institutions, culture and arts, and even the current practice of American democracy, sharpens all knowledge about our nation,” per the College Board website.
Florida banned public schools from teaching critical race theory in June 2021, which the Board of Education defined as “the theory that racism is not merely the product of prejudice, but that racism is embedded in American society and its legal systems in order to uphold the supremacy of white persons.”
Meanwhile in March last year, DeSantis signed legislation, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, that prohibits topics of sexual orientation and gender identity from being taught to children in kindergarten through third grade, per The Guardian.
As some Florida lawmakers are expected to continue to target “woke” culture in education, Democratic lawmakers have been highly critical, such as state Sen. Shevrin Jones.
“This political extremism and its attack of Black history and Black people, is going to create an entire generation of Black children who won’t be able to see themselves reflected at all within their own education or in their own state,” he said in a tweet.
