College Board says AP African American studies will be changed following backlash
Jeremiah Poff
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The College Board will again change its AP African American Studies course after liberal groups accused the organization of caving to pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
The organization, which promulgates AP courses and the SAT, said that its development of the African American Studies course would continue, as unnamed scholars charged with developing the course decided that they would be making changes to the version unveiled earlier this year.
INSIDE RON DESANTIS’S WAR WITH THE COLLEGE BOARD OVER AP AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
“We are committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture,” the College Board said Monday. “To achieve that commitment, we must listen to the diversity of voices within the field. The development committee and experts within AP remain engaged in building a course and exam that best reflect this dynamic discipline. Those scholars and experts have decided they will make changes to the latest course framework during this pilot phase.”
The course first entered a pilot phase last year, with 60 high schools across the country testing out the course with a goal of general availability by the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year. But the framework of the pilot course drew significant criticism from conservatives, and the Florida Department of Education announced earlier this year that it would review the course for potential violations of state laws prohibiting critical race theory in public schools.
Officials in the Florida government pointed out that the course included lesson plans on topics such as “Black Queer Studies,” “‘postracial’ racism and colorblindness,” and support for slavery reparations. “Afrofuturism” was also an included topic where students could watch the Marvel Studios film Black Panther to study “the cultural aesthetics and practices of Afrofuturism.”
The College Board defended the course, saying the pilot framework did not constitute the final version, as it was still being developed. The organization then released a new framework for the course in February that did not contain several of the topics that the DeSantis administration had expressed concerns about.
In response, several liberal organizations, including black advocacy groups such as the National Black Justice Coalition, said the College Board had capitulated to DeSantis’s political pressure and was “censoring Black LGBTQ+ content.”
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The College Board did not say whether the removed content would be restored in the planned changes in its Monday announcement. The organization also did not detail what changes would be made to the course.
“The updated framework, shaped by the development committee and subject matter experts from AP, will ensure that those students who do take this course will get the most holistic possible introduction to African American Studies,” the organization said.