In Florida Schools, there is now a ‘Blatant Attempt to Divide Communities of Color’

By Sunita Sohrabji

Florida is considering an AAPI (Asian American) curriculum in the state's K-12 public schools just as it recently rejected an AP African American course. AAPI advocates see this as an effort to divide communities of color.

Controversy swirls around the K-12 school curriculum in Florida where, under pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the College Board released a new, stripped-down version of an AP African American studies course. The move comes as state lawmakers consider implementing an Asian American studies program statewide.

Civil rights advocates describe the move as a “blatant attempt to divide communities of color” in the state.

They are “weaponizing the use of race,” said John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). “This is whitewashing history. It is not a proper understanding of history.”

Bowing to DeSantis’ objections, the College Board Feb. 1 released a new, stripped-down version, taking out references to the Black Lives Matter movement, Black writers who also happened to be gay, the Black feminist movement, the quest for reparations, and Black queer history, among other subject matters.

But Yang says it’s critical that the histories of all communities are taught for a fuller picture of the American experience. “We want a full telling of history,” he said. “All communities of color must work together to ensure that all of our histories, including their complexities, are taught. All of our histories are relevant.”.”

In a Jan. 31 op-ed for The New York Times, Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund wrote that DeSantis was trying to erase Black history.

“Florida is at the forefront of a nationwide campaign to silence Black voices and erase the full and accurate history and contemporary experiences of Black people,” she stated, noting that several civil rights organizations have filed lawsuits challenging the “Stop Woke” law.

“Florida’s rejection of the AP course and Mr. DeSantis’s demand to excise specific subject areas from the curriculum,” Nelson continued, “stand in stark opposition to the state-issued mandate that all students be taught the history of African Americans, including the history of African peoples before the political conflicts that led to the development of slavery, the passage to America, the enslavement experience, abolition and the contributions of African Americans to society.”