AN UNAPOLOGETIC BLACK OP-ED

Blocking African American Studies Brings Us One Step Closer to Chaos

An essay about the authoritarian steps Florida is taking

Black educators and journalists weren't crying wolf when they warned that a massive censorship campaign was afoot. Since America's racial reckoning, seven states have banned critical race theory; seventeen states have passed laws that restrict teaching about racism. Two states, Arizona and Mississippi, saw critical race theory bans fail, and one state, Delaware, reaffirmed teaching Black history and anti-racism. At this point, the wolf is not only in the village, he’s winning. So, what do these authoritarian bans mean for the millions of students attending public school in America? They can expect to read fewer books written by Black authors and learn less about Black history.

Take Florida, for example, where Governor Ron DeSantis blocked students from taking an African American AP course. Despite quoting Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. earlier in the week, DeSantis has proceeded to attack the African American Advanced Placement course, claiming that it "lacks educational value and is contrary to Florida law." Of course, like all bad-faith actors, DeSantis did not provide any specific details about the misinformation he claimed the course provided. If there are inaccuracies, they should be easy to identify. But, far too often, White privileged men like DeSantis get away with villainizing Black intellectual projects without evidence. The same can be said about the innocuous voter fraud myth that conservatives dust off every election season. It's not like we forgot DeSantis' administration had law-abiding citizens arrested for exercising their right to vote last October. A clear-eyed examination of these policies reveals a disturbing pattern that treats Black citizens as inferior and less deserving of citizenship or even inclusion in class discussions.

High school students typically have access to a variety of Advanced Placement (AP) courses. One of the core benefits of taking AP courses is that success in the course assessment allows students to earn college credit, saving them time and money. The Advanced Placement Program has thirty-eight courses available in seven subject areas. But no one is complaining about the Advanced Placement courses on Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese culture and literature. If the ban were about preventing students from learning about any culture that deviates from "traditional" or White American culture, then any of the aforementioned courses would also be banned. Still, no one is making a move to cancel an Italian literature course. The anti-Black racism is clear as a bell near dinner time — why else would DeSantis' administration only target an African American AP class?

Last year, Florida passed the "Stop WOKE Act," which bans teaching students about racial issues that make some students uncomfortable. It's preposterous because students learn about the millions of people who lost their lives during World War II. No one ever complains about students discovering details about such mass tragedies, so why is the African American experience demonized, criminalized, and villainized within public school curricula? Because racism, specifically anti-Black racism, is perpetuated by policies that constantly portray Blackness as something we should hide and sweep under the rug.

No one has the right to minimize the Black experience to a whisper.

So, now DeSantis is using the law that his administration crafted last year to say that this African American AP Course runs contrary to Florida law. But he's leaving out some valuable information. For instance, Article 1, Section 4 of Florida's State constitution asserts that "every person may speak, write and public sentiments on all subjects" and "no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press." So, if we're being fair, the "Stop WOKE Act" is a disgraceful, unconstitutional, pretentious law. Furthermore, since DeSantis found it appropriate to quote King on Monday, we should also point out that King said, "one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." Finally, teachers and parents can use publically available resources to teach students about African American studies. How can the Florida and United States Constitution promise its citizens the right to free speech and then allow anyone to pass a law limiting what schools can teach students and businesses can discuss, write, or publish? It's contrarian, like doves flying in the ocean.

According to Dr. Nikki Taylor, Chair of the Howard University History Department, students who take the African American Advanced Placement course will develop "a solid understanding of how African Americans have shaped America, its history, laws, institutions, culture and arts, and even the current practice of American democracy," suggesting it "sharpens all knowledge about our nation." However, DeSantis claims that the course has no merit, that students wouldn't gain anything from taking the course, and that teaching this content would break Florida’s Anti-Woke Act. Currently, the course is being piloted in select high schools, and if accepted, tests will be administered beginning in 2025. Courses are only accepted into the Advanced Placement Program if colleges accept them as worthy. "More than 200 institutions have already committed to supporting AP African American Studies through credit and placement policies."

Only targeting African American studies as a problematic course without providing any specific critique about the content is a disingenuous and racist policy decision. Sadly, the trend of banning Black literature, history courses, and content is not confined to Florida or even the South. It's spreading in conservative political circles throughout the nation. And the only way we can stop this censorship, which is the antithesis of democratic principles, is for parents and concerned citizens to stand up to the leaders who are using their power to scrub the curriculum of any meaningful inclusion of Black people, their experiences, and contributions to American society. Banning African American studies brings us one step closer to cultural chaos because it sends the message that talking about Blackness or one's African American identity is taboo. And no one has the right to minimize the Black experience to a whisper.

Author's Note: In high school, I felt uncomfortable about my class dissecting frogs, but I didn't stop other students from learning; I just observed and wrote notes for my lab partner. The inclination to control others is bizarre, which is why the topic of racism is of great interest to me. It's more than dislike; it's about what they do to maintain disparate power. In high school, I took and passed an AP English Literature class. This allowed me to skip my entry-level English course during my first year of college and take a Love in Literature Course, which kept my attention and strengthened my writing skills. I also know someone who took an AP Japanese Culture and Literature Course, and it's an experience that he speaks about fondly. If anything, students need more access to cultural classes because America is a diverse place, and Advanced Placement courses are beneficial to the student, well-designed, and fun.

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