Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has spoken to reporters about why his administration has barred an AP African American studies course from being taught in the state’s schools.
The course was banned after a review found that it violated the state law prohibiting CRT from being taught in classrooms. It also contained a section on “queer theory.”
Naturally, the left lost their minds over the ban, accusing Governor Ron DeSantis of implementing a “Don’t Say Black” rule, alluding to the “Don’t Say Gay” nickname for his Parental Rights in Education law.
WATCH: DeSantis explains rejection of African American Studies course
“It’s not fair to say that somehow abolishing prisons is somehow linked to black experience […] I think they want law and order […] I view it as American history, I don’t view it as black history.” pic.twitter.com/RQuRwBNv20
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) January 23, 2023
“They’re advocating things like abolishing prisons. Now that’s a radical political position,” DeSantis told reporters. “You’re free to take that in your own life, I don’t think very many people think that would actually work, but how is that being taught as fact?”
“It’s not fair to say that somehow abolishing prisons is linked to black experiences, that that’s what black people want,” the governor continued.”I think they want law and order, just like anybody else wants law and order. So that is more ideology being used under the guise of history, and we want to do history.”
DeSantis’ office said they are ensuring Florida schools “utilize accurate, historical curriculum.”
“That’s what our standards for black history are: it’s just cut-and-dry history. You learn all the basics, you learn about the great figures,” DeSantis said. “I view it as American history. I don’t view it as separate history.”
DeSantis’ office previously explained that classrooms in the state are places for “education, not indoctrination.”
“The Florida Department of Education has rejected the College Board’s AP African American Studies course because it lacks educational value and historical accuracy,” Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ press secretary, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As submitted, the course is a vehicle for a political agenda and leaves large, ambiguous gaps that can be filled with additional ideological material, which we will not allow. As Governor DeSantis has stated, our classrooms will be a place for education, not indoctrination.”
The Daily Caller obtained the course syllabus and reported, “Unit 4 includes a section titled ‘African American Studies: Movements and Methods,’ under which is a lesson on ‘Black Queer Studies.’ The section teaches students about ‘the concept of the queer of color critique, grounded in Black feminism and intersectionality, as a Black studies lens that shifts sexuality studies toward racial analysis,’ according to the syllabus.”
