Conservative critics claimed that a US high school curriculum on African-American history amounted to “woke indoctrination.” The curriculum has since been revised.
Republicans in Florida argued that a draft of the new advanced course lacked educational value.
On Wednesday, the official syllabus was made available by the US College Board, which omitted some of the contentious topics.
The revisions were described as “disturbing” by the civil rights organization National Black Justice Coalition.
The organization of Florida Lead representative Ron DeSantis, a conservative fervently tipped for the 2024 White House race, reported last month that the draft variant of the new High level Situation (AP) course wouldn’t be shown in the state’s secondary schools.
The syllabus was referred to as “woke indoctrination masquerading as education” by Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.
He made a chart outlining the state’s objections to the class, arguing that it was filled with critical race theory, which teaches that racism permeates US institutions, and that it broke state law.
Ten little-known facts about Martin Luther King, Jr. AP courses provide students with the opportunity to take college-level classes prior to graduation.
The African-American history syllabus is the non-profit organization’s first new class since 2014. They are overseen by the US College Board.
Florida conservatives protested segments in the draft, including “Dark Eccentric Examinations”, “Diversity”, “Dark Women’s activist Abstract Idea” and “The Repayments Development”.
“the Movement for Black Lives” and “Black Struggle in the 21st Century” sections were completely removed from the College Board’s discussion of intersectionality.
The organization also removed the names of left-leaning black authors Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bell Hooks, and Kimberly Crenshaw following objections from Florida.
A new section on “Black Conservatism” has been added, and the sections on Black Lives Matter and slavery reparations are now optional projects.
On the first day of Black History Month, the revisions to the 234-page official curriculum were made public, prompting outrage from the civil rights organization National Black Justice Coalition.
“As an organization committed to advancing and protecting the interests of Black people, we believe the decision to move forward with the launch of this course without key components that are inextricably part of the Black experience is akin to educational malpractice,” the group stated in a statement. “As an organization committed to advancing and protecting the interests of Black people,”
The College Board argued that it had modified the course prior to Mr. DeSantis’s announcement that the state would block the material and was not influenced by Republicans in Florida.
The organization stated in a statement, “The fact of the matter is that this landmark course has been shaped over years by the most eminent scholars in the field, not political influence.”
Source: www.bbc.com