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The College Board has removed a number of controversial topics from its new AP African American Studies course following criticism led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A final version of the curriculum released Wednesday watered down or entirely removed topics related to the Black Lives Matter movement, “black queer studies” and critical race theory.
The themes had appeared in a draft version of the course guide that appeared last September and drew heavy criticism over claims that students were being subjected to awakened “indoctrination.”
DeSantis, who has made eliminating “ideological conformity” in education a headline of his leadership, said he would ban the course from being taught in Florida schools.
In four broad units, the course covers many mostly uncontroversial topics, ranging from the origins of the African Diaspora to slavery and civil rights.
DeSantis said the course would be banned in Florida, describing the controversial issues as a “political agenda,” adding, “That’s the wrong side of the line by Florida standards.”
David Coleman, the head of the College Board, has denied that the removal of the problem subjects was linked to political pressure.
The conflicting material arose mostly in the fourth and final unit of the course, entitled ‘movements and debates’. Subheadings within the section included ‘Intersectionality and Activism’ and ‘Queer Black Studies’.
DeSantis, who is looming as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, described the inclusion of the issues as a “political agenda” and added: “That’s the wrong side of the line by Florida standards.”
“We believe in teaching kids facts and how to think, but we don’t think an agenda should be forced on them when you try to use black history to shoehorn queer theory, clearly you’re trying to use that for political purposes. ‘
David Coleman, director of the College Board, told the New York Times the elimination of problem subjects was not linked to political pressure.
He said the decision was made after consulting with students, faculty, and teachers, adding that some of the topics were “quite dense.”
Coleman said: “At the College Board, we can’t look at statements by political leaders.”
He added that the revisions to the syllabus were also derived from “longstanding AP principles,” adding: “We experimented with many things, including assigning secondary sources, and found that many problems arose while doing so.
“I think the most amazing and powerful thing for most people is looking directly at people’s experience.”
Authors who have been removed from the course guide include Columbia law professor Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, a leading scholar in critical race theory, and author Ta-Nehisi Coates, an advocate for reparations for African Americans. .
The course guide was released Wednesday with controversial issues appearing in a redacted or watered-down draft version.
Coleman has described the course as an “unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African-American history and culture.”
The course is currently being tested in 60 schools across the country. The pilot will be expanded to hundreds more institutions throughout 2023-24, before being fully rolled out in the following academic year.
A 234-page course manual still includes some mention of the issues that drew the ire of Republicans and some Democrats.
Towards the end of the guide, a section of ‘sample project themes’, which are described as ‘illustrative only’, has suggestions including: Black Lives Matter: Origins, Impacts, Critics; Intersectionality and the dimensions of black experiences; and Reparations Debates in the US/Americas.
The guide now also includes ‘Black Conservatism: Development and Ideology’ as a suggested project idea, something that was not included in the draft.
Authors who have been removed from the draft include Columbia law professor Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, a leading scholar in critical race theory, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, who has written on the case for reparations for African Americans.
The release of the course’s curriculum comes just a day after DeSantis announced a series of reforms to Florida’s higher education system that he said were designed to remove ‘political activism’ from teaching and instead , ‘promote academic excellence’.
“There really is a debate about what is the purpose of higher education, particularly publicly funded higher education systems,” he told a news conference on Tuesday.
‘You have the dominant point of view, which I think is not the correct point of view, to impose ideological conformity, to provoke political activism. Instead, we need our higher education systems to promote academic excellence.’
The measures also aim to ban schools from teaching critical race theory, which teaches that racism is ingrained in American society and its institutions, and limit diversity, equity and inclusion programs at state universities.
AP (Advanced Placement) courses are optional college-level programs offered to high school students that allow them to explore advanced fields of study, earn credit, and also help with their college applications.