DeSantis doubles down on critical race theory

Ron DeSantis is the governor of Florida, who may possibly be in the running for the 2024 presidential election.

Currently, DeSantis is aligning his policies with that of Republicans and is moving forward with his “Stop Woke Act.” What’s highlighted mostly in this act is the stopping of indoctrinating children as well as making children feel as though they should feel guilty of what happened in the past. What falls into these guidelines is “Black Queer Studies” along with most of Black history.

The College Board, which is responsible for implementing AP courses for students, is relatively against what DeSantis is trying to do. Both College Board and DeSantis are going head-to-head over an AP African American studies course.

The course would have students analyz- ing Black scholars including Angela Davis, as well as writings like poetry. names of businesses, people or events he can remember help him to piece together the borough’s life.

When deciding to implement African studies as an AP course, College Board had to do a lot of “clean ups” to get the course approved, which means some Black writers associated with critical race theory, the queer experience, and Black feminism were removed from being taught in the course. Once the course was “cleaned up” and ready to be brought to high schools, DeSantis was prepared to put a stop to the course which he successfully did.

DeSantis believes that the course lacks “educational value” while College Board believes the course would add much needed insight into Black history.

This decision follows conservative trends of censoring literature and teaching, claiming things like critical race theory are unnecessary and dangerous for children.

Guyer, who also worked at Shippensburg University for 35 years, watched as the campus formed into what it is today. He watched the construction of Heiges Field House, Grove Hall and the whole recreation area.

As he posts more, other members of the community chime in with their memories and experiences, providing more leads for Guyer to research. When asked why he spends so much time researching, he had a very simple answer — this is what he enjoys doing.

“The main drag had department stores, shoe stores, hardware stores, you name it. And it’s all gone,” Guyer said while discussing his own personal memories of the borough. “Doing this we have a chance to relive it. We can never go back to it, but we got memories.”

He also stressed how important history is, especially for small communities such as Shippensburg.

“Never let history disappear,” Guyer said. “Without history, we have nothing.”