In 2021, in the wake of a tumultuous year marked by thousands of racial protests nationwide, the College Board announced that they would be launching an AP African American Studies course. The class is designed to explore the history of black America, discussing topics of African American literature, art, and broader historical studies.
This past February, however, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced that he would be blocking the course from being taught in Florida’s schools, stating that it was “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.” Hmmm, okay.
While DeSantis failed to identify any specific aspects of the course that raised concerns, members of his administration reportedly feared that the course was “trying to advance Black Panther thinking.” Um, what?
Perhaps the most pernicious aspect of this assault on black humanity is the fact that it was, in part, successful. After Desantis’ comments, the College Board released a new iteration of the AP African American Studies curriculum—this time, notably lacking in its inclusion of topics like the Black Lives Matter movement and writings by authors associated with Critical Race Theory and black-queer experiences. Come on, College Board.
The College Board’s retreat sends a strong message to both black people and America as a whole about the value of black history and humanity in this country. Further, it sends a signal to conservatives that their efforts to politicize and censure anything related to black people are working.
Despite the egregious nature of Desantis’ actions, they really don’t come as much of a surprise. His administration has made similar attacks on black history in the past—most notably, it oversaw the passage of the “Individual Freedom” law, which largely bans the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Florida’s schools.
Critical Race Theory (CRT), which explores American history through the lens of the black experience, has become intrinsic to efforts by many conservatives to silence black America in the past couple of years. These politicians claim that these teachings are designed to ignite white guilt over slavery and promote black superiority. In reality, CRT is merely intended to acknowledge the existence of systemic racism and the ways in which centuries of black oppression have shaped our country.
The far-right has painted CRT as an indoctrination of young, elementary-age students, and an attack on America’s identity, when, in fact, CRT is only taught at universities, and designed to illuminate aspects of American history that have gone unrecognized for decades. What happened to “the facts don’t care about your feelings,” Ron?
Governor DeSantis is not the only Republican politician who has weaponized conservative fear to censure racial teachings in schools; on his very first day in office, Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) used his first executive order to abolish CRT in Virginia’s schools. In an interview on Fox News, Youngkin asserted that “anyone who thinks that the concepts that actually underpin Critical Race Theory are not in our schools hasn’t been in our schools.” Despite this, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that CRT was a part of the Virginia state curriculum in the first place; it’s wonderful to see our country’s politicians prioritizing problems that do not exist!
De-racializing the state curriculum was actually a cornerstone of Youngkin’s campaign; in 2021, he ran an ad about the negative effects of Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” that quickly transformed into the face of conservative book-banning efforts nationwide.
In the 2021-2022 school year, over 1,600 books were banned, most of which were fiction, with about 41% including prominent characters of color, 33% that featured LGBTQ characters, and 22% that addressed issues of racism. Non-fiction books also included young-adult editions of biographies by people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Duke Ellington.
All of these efforts—banning AP African American Studies, CRT, and books that breach the topics of race and gender identity—are part of a larger conservative effort to delegitimize our country’s educational institutions. First, it was the media, as conservatives (led by former President Donald Trump) made continual accusations of “fake news” and “liberal propaganda” whenever the news didn’t serve them.
It is important to recognize this assault on education as the second wave of this attack. In 2015, 37% of Republicans were reported to believe that college educations have a negative effect on the country. In 2019, this number rose to 59%. Republicans have long cited the fact that the overwhelming majority of college professors are liberal-leaning (which speaks volumes) to explain this statistic, but much of this increase also reflects this new conservative fight against education.
The Republican Party tries to paint itself as a “for the people” party that emphasizes “family values,” and they argue that banning books and CRT is an extension of this. However, in reality, this narrative could not be more false; with the reckonings the United States has undergone in the past couple of years with regard to race, gender, and sexuality, the far right has found themselves left in the dust and holding tight to a woefully outdated image of America. As a result, they assert control in any way they can to protect their vision of the country, seeking to dictate who you marry, whether or not you have children, and now, who and what constitutes American history.
