Florida Government Asks College Board to Revise AP Course

Photo courtesy of flgov.com

Opposition in Florida’s government of the College Board’s AP African American Studies course has left many surprised, especially at Wright College.

After facing intense backlash from Ron DeSantis and other conservative leaders, who originally banned the entire course, College Board has skimmed back on the original material being taught in the AP African American Studies course. Removal of critical race theory, Black movements involving both LGBTQ+ and feminism, and politically-fought topics such as Black Lives Matter were some of the few subjects within the course that upset conservative leaders alike.

DeSantis opposed the course, stating that “ideological conformity” was inappropriate for students in an educational setting.

College Board has since amended its original framework for the course and has listed the aforementioned topics as optional end-of-the-year projects. The changes are under review by the Florida education board to determine whether the course meets the state’s standards.

This move has made some question the integrity of the course and of possible pushback of African American studies in higher educational settings, such as colleges.

According to Professor Larnell Dunkley, a professor of English and African American Studies at City Colleges of Chicago’s Harold Washington campus, commented that “Florida and DeSantis are another attempt to marginalize African Americans and their struggles from the past to what is currently happening.” As part of professor Dunkley’s course, learning new perspectives and bringing awareness to issues that affect people of color and minorities is “the standard of what education should be.” Professor Dunkley’s African American Studies course is offered online for students from various CCC campuses to enroll in.

Katia Jackson, a student from Harold Washington, is a student enrolled in professor Dunkely’s African American Studies course.

“As a Black woman in America, I’m well aware how my skin color will affect my life, but for students attempting to learn and understand the hostility towards African American Studies, DeSantis’s censorship [of the AP African American Studies course] creates an unjust disservice for students who want to learn of the history that is often white-washed,” Jackson said.

Jackson has stated that she willingly enrolled in professor Dunkley’s course, even though her major is photography, because she appreciates Dunkley’s unbiased and factual teachings in a course that has received severe criticism from conservatives. Even students not enrolled in the African American Studies course have expressed their agreement in keeping the course open-minded and available for future students.

Veronica Betancourt, a student at Wright majoring in History, expressed her desire for courses such as African American Studies to remain free from political agendas and continue to teach future students the factual realities of history.

“History will repeat itself – we’ve seen it happen – and censoring history and current events will only continue a cycle of ignorance. Students should learn history with fact-checked evidence, not close-minded narratives that aim to benefit a select group,” Betancourt said.