Advanced Placement (AP) courses are common in most American high schools, including IHS. Students can take Advanced Placement courses ranging from AP United States History to AP Japanese Language and Culture. These courses are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT exam. Each year, the College Board considers additions to the AP course catalog. In 2023, the College Board will be adding AP African American Studies. Although most states and school districts have voiced no objections to this course, Florida is one exception.
In 2021, Florida banned the teaching of critical race theory in schools, which is a cross-disciplinary examination—by social and civil-rights scholars and activists—of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape (and are shaped by), social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Florida also has passed the Parental Rights in Education, better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits the discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation in public schools from kindergarten to third grade. Governor Ron Desantis describes his reasoning for these policies as “preventing the indoctrination of our children.”
Governor DeSantis banned the AP African American Studies course in Florida, stating that the class “significantly lacks educational value.” Approximately fourteen percent of Florida’s population identifies as Black, with a large portion of its population being Hispanic or descendants of slaves. Proponents of the course, meanwhile, argue that African American History is an integral part of American History, and have worked to expand access. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has condemned Governor DeSantis for his opposition to this course and is taking the opposite approach by creating greater access to this course in New Jersey. The AP African American Studies course is in its “pilot” phase, meaning only a small number of schools will offer it this year. Governor Murphy is expanding access to twenty-five New Jersey schools, making New Jersey the state with the most schools offering the course.
Critics of the course argue that it focuses on African American progressives and does not offer the viewpoints of African American conservatives. They also state that the course presents certain viewpoints as facts, without qualification. Supporters of the course continue to argue that students attend school to learn facts as well as diverse political and cultural viewpoints. The political views of the state’s governor, they contend, should not drive decisions on what content is taught in schools. As AP African American Studies leaves its pilot phase, it is unclear what changes College Board will make to the course, if any.
