BY: FREEDOM IN EDUCATION
The College Board’s Advanced Placement African-American Studies (APAAS) re-released it’s pilot program for the upcoming school year after the inflammatory course raised controversy last year for its highly divisive concepts- so much so, that the Florida Department of Education (DOE) barred it for violating their Stop WOKE Act. Since then, APAAS has been finalized with a ‘revised curriculum.’ Despite the purported removal of some of the more radical points, Florida, South Carolina, and Arkansas have already in various ways withheld full credit from the reworked course, with Georgia withholding full recognition of the course, although Georgia will allow local districts to offer APAAS.
Although several topics were removed from the required AP African American Studies, they were placed in the “Further Explorations” section which means they are optional, or supplemental, essentially providing a ‘loophole’ for teachers interested in indoctrinating students– to be able to do so.
“This is a blatant violation of parental rights,” said President and Co-Founder of FIE, Melissa Jackson. “Parents have the right to– and deserve to– know exactly what is being taught in their child’s classroom. This shell game to usher in Marxist content is in no way acceptable.”
What is APAAS?
The College Board states the course “will offer a holistic introduction to the history, literature, and arts of Black people in the United States.” The AP-AAS course has a framework of four (4) thematic units that span one-hundred and fifteen (115) class periods, or twenty-three (23) weeks covering the following:
- Origins of the African Diaspora- 11 sections (18 class periods, or 3.5 weeks)
- Freedom, Enslavement and Resistance- 24 sections (39 class periods, or ~8 weeks)
- The Practice of Freedom- 18 sections (28 class periods, or~ 6 weeks)
- Movements and Debates- 21 sections (30 class periods, or ~6 weeks)
The framework also includes an individual student project spanning fifteen (15) classes, or three (3) weeks that covers any student topic of interest, within African American studies, which will not be included in the AP exam.
Finally, the course includes a ‘Further Explorations’ section which would allow any teacher or student topic of interest, within African American studies, which will not be included in the AP exam and spans five (5) class periods, or one (1) week. There is considerable room for risk here insomuch as the teacher is encouraged to select any topic within African American studies, even those not covered in this course, and which would allow a teacher to bring in divisive concepts, or Marxist concepts.
The Concerns Remain:
There are elements of concern, that were initially noted by Florida DOE and now noted by other states, that remain in the course, some as elective, non-exam based. These include the post-modern concept that race is considered ‘socially constructed,’ a Unit titled Interlocking Systems of Oppression and includes “Essential Knowledge” of the following:
“The concept of “interlocking systems of oppression” describes how social categories (e.g., race, gender, class, sexuality, ability) are interconnected, and considers how their interaction with social systems creates unequal outcomes for individuals. The concept examines interrelated contexts, systems, and institutions that facilitate oppression or privilege in many areas of society, including education, health, housing, incarceration, and wealth gaps.”
After APAAS caused controversy in Georgia, Superintendent Richard Woods released a statement defending his position to withhold full recognition of the course:
“As this course had received much controversy over the pilot year concerning some content, I proceeded to read the complete course standards and framework. This was done to see if the course material violated Georgia law 20-1-11. This section of Georgia law deals with the topic of ‘Divisive Concepts’ as was initiated in the originating legislation of House Bill 1084. After reviewing the content, it was clear that parts of the coursework did violate the law. As with most states with laws like Georgia on this issue that have raised concerns, the most glaring violation is on the topic of intersectionality. There are additional areas of concern, but this topic raises the highest level of concern.”
Additionally, the “Source Notes” section references writers including Angela Davis, an American Marxist and feminist political activist and widely regarded as influential in developing Critical Race Theory (CRT.) This, as well as other sections, explore the concept of intersectionality straying from the historical perspective and now asks students to take a neo-Marxist view of society. In fact, the ‘Further Explorations’ section of the course goes on to give examples of topics which might be selected which are not included in the thematic units, including reparations, prison abolition, and other Marxist ideology.
“APAAS, however, still possesses deep flaws. The flaws stem from the fact that it is an Introduction to African American Studies, not African American History AP. African American Studies is not (as the name suggests to the casual reader) an interdisciplinary study of African American history and culture. It is, rather, a pseudo-discipline devoted to myth building and political activism. The trouble is not that APAAS fails in its attempt “to be the equivalent of an introductory college or university course in African American Studies and related courses, including Africana Studies, African Diaspora Studies, and Black Studies” (p. 5), but that it succeeds,” the Civics Alliance wrote in their review of the course. “African American Studies is not an intellectual discipline. It is a political project to forward a radical conception of “Black Liberation,” based upon the presumptions of identity-group politics. APAAS itself devotes substantial time to the development of African American Studies within its own course material.”
Despite the foundational course having removed a lot of the more radicalized content their first iteration had, the Further Explorations and Individual Student Project establish clear avenues for students and teachers to cover controversial topics of critical race theory and other Marxist ideology, and after priming students with some foundational knowledge, the course asks students to consider everything they’ve learned through a Marxist lens.
