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Florida officials were reportedly concerned that lessons on slavery in the new AP African American Studies course didn't offer any "opposing viewpoints" or "other perspectives" before they declined to implement the program.
In January, the Florida Department of Education said it would not offer the AP African American American Studies course, which was piloted in schools across the country this year, because it lacked educational value and violated state law.
Internal state documents obtained by the Miami Herald outline the concerns Florida officials had while reviewing the course before its rejection.
One lesson in the course teaches students how enslaved Africans were taken to plantations in Portuguese colonies that later became “a model for slave-based economy in the Americas.” According to internal documents, state officials said they were concerned the lesson “may not address the internal slave trade/system within Africa” and “may only present one side of this issue.”
A separate lesson covers how Europeans benefited from the slave trade, which state reviewers claimed “may lead to a viewpoint of an ‘oppressor vs. oppressed’ based solely on race or ethnicity.” One reviewer also alleged that a lesson about abolitionists who worked to free slaves wasn't “factually inclusive or balanced.”
State officials noted several times that the course was lacking perspectives from "the other side."
In response to the report, the College Board told the Miami Herald that Florida officials didn't share their full critique of the course. College Board is set to submit a finalized version of its AP African American Studies course for approval in November. It remains unclear if Florida law will allow the course to be offered even after its revisions.
“We certainly hope that Florida students will have the opportunity to take this course,” Holly Stepp, a College Board spokesperson, told the Herald.
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