AP African American Studies
[citation needed] For decades, critics of the College Board and advanced placement programs have argued that curricula have focused too much on Euro-centric history.
Leaders in the field of Black studies, such as Henry Louis Gates, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, and Robert Patterson assisted in the creation of the course.
[9] Dawn Williams, dean of Howard University's School of Education, said that AP African American Studies consists of a "curriculum that's been vetted for years by experts in the field."
It is a mainstream, rigorously vetted, academic approach to a vibrant field of study, one half a century old in the American academy, and much older, of course, in historically Black colleges and universities.
[11][7] In a September 2022 opinion column for The Wall Street Journal, Jason L. Riley claimed that the College Board would probably pander to Black students with political indoctrination.
"[7] The course was featured on America in Black, a television show that first aired on BET, VH1, and CBS February 19, 2023, where Soderstrom's class at Ridge View High School was interviewed.
"[19] The letter reportedly did not specify what was objectionable to the department, but a spokesperson for DeSantis indicated that the course left "large, ambiguous gaps that can be filled with additional ideological material.
[20] DeSantis later gave his reason for the ban as the inclusion of queer theory and intersectionality in the course, as well as content regarding the role prisons play in systemic oppression, and stated that these topics were on “the wrong side of the line for Florida standards”.
[25] Coleman also said that the curriculum was changed well before DeSantis announced the state's intent to ban the course in Florida and that College Board does not "bend to politics.
"[22] The South Carolina Department of Education eliminated funding of AP African American Studies in public schools, sparking criticism from civil rights leaders and accusations of "whitewashing" history.
