Recently, College Board has said they are supporting the Advanced Placement course for African American studies, according to Politico. 

Except, the Florida State Board of Education unanimously voted to ban Critical Race Theory in 2021, which Governor Ron DeSantis supported. The education commissioner tweeted the department had “rejected an AP course filled with Critical Race Theory and other obvious violations of Florida law.”

Here is the commissioner’s full tweet about the issue. https://twitter.com/SenMannyDiazJr/status/1616565048767385601

Ron DeSantis and his administration claimed that the course “significantly lacks educational value.” He has also said that the course “pushed an agenda,” and the College Board is expected to unveil its framework on February 1st.  

While Florida Education Department blocked the course, Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney, joined Florida students that will sue the state and DeSantis if they don’t add African American studies to their curriculum, according to Axios. Crump also previously served as the attorney for the family of George Floyd, an African-American man murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020.

Crump said the block by Florida officials violates both federal and state constitutions. 

He also says that if DeSantis allows College Board to pass the course in the curriculum, there would be no need for a lawsuit. 

Additionally, Crump said, according to Axios, “However, if he rejects the free flow of ideas and suppresses African American studies, then we’re prepared to take this controversy all the way to the United States Supreme Court.”

A professor from Havard who helped advise the course creation, Evelyn Brooks, said to Forbes,  “The purpose is not to indoctrinate students or guide them in some kind of political philosophy. The story is so much more complex than simply white people versus Black people.”