After conservative opponents said that a US high school curriculum on African-American history amounted to "woke indoctrination," the program was altered. A draught of the new advanced-level course was criticized by Florida Republicans as having no instructional value.
On Wednesday, the US College Board published the official curriculum, which left out several of the contentious topics. The adjustments were deemed "disturbing" by the civil rights organization National Black Justice Coalition.
The draught version of the new Advanced Placement (AP) course will not be offered in the state's high schools, according to a recent announcement from the administration of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is heavily favored to win the 2024 presidential election.
The curriculum was referred to as "woke indoctrination masquerading as instruction" by Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.
He published a chart outlining the state's concerns about the course, claiming that it was illegal and that it taught critical race theory, which asserts that racism penetrates US institutions.
Students can enroll in college-level courses through AP programs before they graduate. The African-American history curriculum is the non-profit organization's first new course since 2014, and they are governed by the US College Board.
The draft's sections on "Black Queer Studies," "Intersectionality," "Black Feminist Literary Thought," and "The Reparations Movement" drew criticism from Florida Republicans.
The College Board eliminated the whole section labeled "Black Struggle in the 21st Century" and significantly reduced the topic of intersectionality. The organization also banned left-leaning black writers Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bell Hooks, and Kimberlé Crenshaw in response to Florida's complaints.
Black Lives Matter and slavery reparations sections are now optional projects rather than part of the test, and a new component on "Black Conservatism" has been included.
The 234-page official curriculum amendments that were unveiled on the first day of Black History Month drew criticism from the civil rights group National Black Justice Coalition.
The decision to proceed with the opening of this course without important components that are intrinsically linked to the Black experience, according to the group devoted to developing and preserving the interests of Black people, is comparable to educational malpractice, it said in a statement.
The College Board contended that it had changed the course before Mr. DeSantis stated the state would ban the material and that it had not been influenced by Florida Republicans.
The organization stated in a statement that "the truth of the issue is that this historic course has been fashioned over years by the most distinguished experts in the area, not political influence."
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