Ron DeSantis Successfully Bullies the College Board Into Tailoring AP African American Studies to the Needs of Fragile White People

Earlier this month, as part of his dystopian attempt to dictate the topics people can and cannot discuss in the state of Florida, Ron DeSantis’s administration sent a letter to the College Board rejecting a new AP course on African American studies, claiming the class is “contrary to Florida law” and “significantly lacks educational value.” Later, the governor elaborated on the state’s objections in a press conference, saying: “This course on Black history, what’s one of the lessons about? Queer theory. Now who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids. And so when you look to see they have stuff on intersectionality, abolishing prisons, that’s a political agenda.”

The whole thing was ridiculous and disturbing, but not at all surprising given that DeSantis has spent his time in office signing one absurd law after the next, including one whose obvious intent is to ban conversations that could result in white people feeling bad about systemic racism, and another that was literally nicknamed “Don’t Say Gay.” What is surprising, you ask? That College Board completely bowed to his demands—and extremely quickly at that!

Per The New York Times:

After heavy criticism from Governor Ron DeSantis, the College Board released on Wednesday an official curriculum for its new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies—stripped of much of the subject matter that had angered the governor and other conservatives. The College Board purged the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience, and Black feminism. It ushered out some politically fraught topics, like Black Lives Matter, from the formal curriculum. And it added something new: “Black conservatism” is now offered as an idea for a research project.

In its revised 234-page curriculum framework, the content on Africa, slavery, reconstruction, and the civil rights movement remains largely the same. But the study of contemporary topics—including Black Lives Matter, incarceration, queer life, and the debate over reparations—is downgraded. The subjects are no longer part of the exam, and are simply offered on a list of options for a required research project. And even that list, in a nod to local laws, “can be refined by local states and districts.”

According to the Times, among the writers and academics removed from the curriculum are Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, a Columbia professor whose work has been “foundational in critical race theory” (i.e., dirty words to DeSantis and Co.); Roderick Ferguson, a Yale professor who has written extensively about queer social movements (see “Don’t Say Gay”); and Ta-Nehisi Coates, the celebrated author who has made a strong case for reparations. Gone, too, is bell hooks, the author and activist whose work focused on the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender.

The head of the College Board insisted to the Times that the changes to the curriculum had nothing to do with political pressure, saying, “At the College Board, we can’t look to statements of political leaders,” and that the tweaks came from “the input of professors” and “longstanding AP principles.” In a Medium post published on Tuesday, more than 200 African American studies teachers condemned DeSantis and his administration, calling their actions “censorship and a frontal attack on academic freedom.”

Unfortunately, the outcry within academia is unlikely to deter the governor, who this week continued his crusade against free thought (and anyone who isn’t straight) with the announcement that he plans to defund diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at every public college in the state. While claiming the purpose of the move is to eliminate “ideological conformity,” he also said courses on Western civilization would be mandated if his proposal is enacted. Yes, it’s almost as though he did not take a class on “What it means to be a colossal hypocrite” at Yale.

Meanwhile, the Times has chosen to frame this as a branding exercise and not the actions of a would-be authoritarian trying to suppress knowledge because he doesn’t like the facts.

Happy Black History Month.