Wednesday, February 01, 2023

Advanced Placement African-American Studies

They can say that they didn’t bow to political pressure, that the course as written didn’t conform to "longstanding A.P. principles".  But if that’s true, how did it get written, published, and distributed in the first place?  And does anyone truly believe that if DeSantis hadn’t made an issue of the content, that the College Board would have made the changes they’ve now made, and in such a short time?  Yeah, me either.

After scathing criticism of the Advanced Placement curricula for African American Studies by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the College Board has significantly altered the curriculum by stripping many of the issues to which DeSantis objected...

In January, DeSantis announced he would ban the AP Black Studies course on the grounds that it violated state law that regulates how race-related issues are taught in public schools. Essentially, any ideological approach to teaching race-related issues was forbidden.  link

Education, yes.  Indoctrination, no. 

Update, 2/6/23:  Here we have a few people demonstrating class:

Pierre Rutledge, chair of the Miami-Dade Black Affairs Advisory Board, issued a statement on behalf of his board that apologized to DeSantis for a comment made at their Wednesday meeting from a member who said, "Our governor is racist."

"We take it to heart when someone uses the term racist," Rutledge said Friday. "Words matter. And so as chair, I must start by saying we want to pull that back. There’s nothing wrong with saying ‘we’re sorry.’ That’s not what we intended to say or be depicted by anyone. And that’s not the feeling of this board."

The accusations of racism against DeSantis came as the board criticized the governor’s rejection of an African-American history Advanced Placement course due to content about Black Lives Matter and queer issues. The College Board removed aspects of the course Wednesday that were opposed by DeSantis, and the course will be reevaluated by the Florida Department of Education to determine if it is appropriate for schools.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tell me you get your news from a wholly insulated right wing media echo chamber without telling me …

Darren said...

Are you just going to take an "anonymous" jab at me and the linked web site, or are you going to be a big boy and tell me what is factually incorrect in my post?

Anna A said...

Anonymous,

Tell me why "Queer Theory" is part of African American studies, when I, a STEM not history, could fill up a year of studies without even breaking a sweat.

Anonymous said...

If you were curious about the actual story—and you’re not; you just need the culture war dopamine hit—you might start with journalistic coverage rather than op-ed stuff. Try this:

College Board responds to backlash over AP African American studies curriculum - https://www.npr.org/2023/02/03/1154359622/college-board-responds-to-backlash-over-ap-african-american-studies-curriculum

I know it’s outside the RWM echo chamber bubble, but give it a try. That facts and the timeline are what’s important. My identity is irrelevant.

Darren said...

I need a dopamine hit--and yet you frequent my blog. Hey pot, this is kettle.

It's not just your identity that's irrelevant....