In January 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis banned Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies in classrooms. The act that halted this AP course from being approved was the Stop WOKE Act which DeSantis signed in April 2022. According to the Florida government, the curriculum was banned because it supposedly lacked “educational value and historical accuracy” and was deemed too inappropriate to teach in schools. However, I strongly disagree with this and believe the curriculum should continue to be taught because it discusses many prevalent topics in history, such as the history of systemic racism, gender and sexuality, and environmental concerns that are relevant to today’s society.
To “fix” the course to align with Florida’s standards, numerous Black authors and scholars who were involved in queer theory, critical race theory, and Black feminism had their names purged by College Board nationwide. It also made topics such as critical race theory and Black Lives Matter optional from the curriculum. The CEO of College Board, David Coleman, made a weak attempt to persuade opponents that the change was not from conservative pressure. “At the College Board, we can’t look to statements of political leaders,” Coleman said. He instead claimed that the College Board used “the input of professors” and “long-standing AP principles” to address why subjects were left out. However, it is evident that College Board’s hasty curriculum change was only made to accommodate Florida’s ban of the subject. The fact that educational entities such as College Board feel pressured to bend under the will of corrupt politics elucidates the large-scale influence and threat to education one ban can have.
In early August 2023, AP Psychology was also banned by the Florida education department because it included content about sexual orientation and gender identity. The following day, the department said that AP Psychology can be taught in its entirety in a manner that is “age and developmentally appropriate.” This statement in and of itself is contradictory: how can AP Psychology be taught in its entirety if certain units are removed? Not only is the ban limiting the quantity of education available to students, it also makes the false claim that gender identity and sexual orientation are inappropriate topics for AP students, most of which are high schoolers. According to the Williams Institute, approximately 9.5 percent of youth in the age range 13-17 in the United States identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. If one in every ten students in a standard AP classroom are queer, then to say this issue is irrelevant and “inappropriate” for these students is absurd.
Censoring educational content for the sake of furthering a political agenda is nothing but an abuse of power To remove and subdue lessons concerning racism from students’ education blatantly undermines the disproportionate amount of violence committed against Black Americans, as the rate of police shootings of Black Americans is at 5.8 per million people, much higher than other racial groups according to Statista. Removing topics on race from AP curriculums will not only give students a lack of situational and societal awareness, but also make it easier for them to take Black history for granted.
Seeing that the Florida ban has remained untouched, there is a chance that if we continue down this path, our state and other red states will follow the same trail as Florida. It is up to the us to recognize the lethal effects of banning crucial topics in education and advocate for educational entities like the College Board to stay firm on their curriculums and sever communications with government departments on their AP classes. I hope for a future where education won’t be censored and instead will be discussed in a way that acknowledges all of society’s viewpoints and concepts.
