In December, the well-known nonprofit testing company recognized for the Advanced Placement program and the SAT and PSAT exams, College Board, released another updated AP African American studies course. It has been six months since the College Board vowed to change the foremost AP African-American studies course following contention in Florida. The Republican presidential candidate for 2024, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, announced his decision to ban the AP African-American course in his state, citing that it was promoting a political agenda. DeSantis’ administration rejected the course, and as a result, the College Board removed several topics from its curriculum, including Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations, and queer life, succumbing to political pressure. In an April statement, the College Board said the development committee and experts authoring the Advanced Placement course “will determine the details of those changes over the next few months.” At the time, it was unclear what the changes were or when they would be made public.
The College Board attempted to address some criticism from the activists and African-American scholars displeased at the changes and appease conservative critics with the latest AP African-American course. The revisions include added historical content and material on Black culture’s influence on film and sports, feminism, and discriminatory practices related to housing while converting formerly required course material to optional course resources. Writings from Malcolm X and Maya Angelou in Ghana, a speech by Frederick Douglass, a few previously removed black female writers, and an interactive map of the 1919 Red Summer riots by white supremacists will not be considered required material.
College Board is a well-known test provider offering many AP courses taught at the college level. It allows high school students to earn credits for college before they graduate high school by scoring high enough on the final exam. AP courses in math, science, social studies, foreign languages, fine arts, and African-American studies exist. The AP African American studies course first launched in 60 schools in the US during its pilot year in 2022. Then, it expanded to 800 schools and 16,000 students. Next year, all schools will have the option to offer the course in 2024.
