National Black Justice Coalition Calls College Board’s AP African American Studies Reversal a ‘Teachable Moment’
CONTACT: Jordan Wilhelmi | jordan@unbendablemedia.com
FLORIDA – Monday, it was reported that the College Board would revise its Advanced Placement African American studies course following overwhelming criticism from Black scholars and advocates about its watered-down curriculum, under political pressure from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
After previous reports illustrated that the College Board coordinated and met with Florida officials multiple times before the release of its AP African American Studies course, the National Black Justice Coalition called for College Board CEO David Coleman to show leadership or be removed from his role for allowing politics to impact the organization’s decisions.
In reaction to the College Board’s most recent reversal, Dr. David J. Johns, Ph.D., executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, a leading Black LGBTQ+/SGL civil rights organization, issued the following statement:
“This should serve as a teachable moment for the reputational consequences of acquiescing to political intervention in our schools and using our children as pawns. While the College Board’s acknowledgment that it watered down its AP African American Studies course because of outside pressure is a long overdue admission of guilt, we hope it realizes this was an avoidable embarrassment due to incredibly poor judgment and forces new protocols to prevent a repeat of this mess.
“The current College Board leadership should also be thoroughly reviewed to ascertain how they were so easily manipulated and influenced by the manufactured ‘stop woke’ agenda of Gov. Ron DeSantis, and if they are still fit to be arbiters of curriculum and testing that shapes how students, of all ages, come to make sense of democracy and the opportunities and outcomes available to them. Now that the spotlight has illuminated the cover-up of their capitulation to radical anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-truth political forces, real questions must be asked and answered about the outsized role of the College Board as a non-profit organization with tremendous unchecked power.
“Ultimately, the real victims of this debacle are the students of Florida, especially those students of color, who will not have access to a fact-based, fear-free course that reflects the breadth and depth initially proposed due to the arcane, anti-democratic, segregationist, white nationalistic policies of DeSantis, driven by his soon-to-be dead on arrival presidential ambitions. The pilot course, as initially conceived, never broke Florida law and should continue to be an option for Florida’s students.
“Simply put, it is unacceptable that our children’s education was put in jeopardy in the first place, and we must remain vigilant to ensure that all students have access to an education that prepares them for the future by teaching them the uncensored and full history of the United States. We cannot, and will not, let the politics of fear and division dictate what our children are taught.
“The College Board’s most recent public statements still do not say enough about how they plan to prioritize integrity about the profits associated with prioritizing access. The final curriculum will tell the story of whether the board and David Coleman believe the words they purport guides their work. Thus far, their actions do not reflect their words. In short, the math ain’t math-ing and they need not lie about it.” If you’re interested in discussing the latest from the College Board Dr. Johns, who is also the former. executive director of President Obama’s White House initiative on African American Education Excellence, is available for an interview.
