AP Instruction On Slavery Includes Same Fact Central To White House Attacks On Florida Curriculum
The White House Criticizes Florida’s Curriculum on Slavery
The White House has launched an attack on Florida’s curriculum regarding the history of slavery. This curriculum component is also covered in the widely-used College Board curriculum for African American studies.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris recently criticized Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) over his state’s social studies curriculum for 2023. They accused DeSantis of whitewashing and rewriting the United States’ history of slavery.
Florida’s state Department of Education released its social studies curriculum for K-12 students, which was developed by a commission of scholars and academics from various institutions across the U.S.
One sentence from the 216-page outline has been heavily criticized by Biden and Harris. The sentence clarifies how freed slaves used skills learned and developed in slavery to help themselves later in life: “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
The College Board’s course framework for AP African American Studies for 2023-2024 includes a similar goal. It states that enslaved people learned specialized trades and worked in various professions, using these skills to provide for themselves and others once they were free.
The College Board’s AP college prep classes are widely available in schools across the U.S.
DeSantis’ press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, pointed out the similarity between the two frameworks. DeSantis had previously rejected the College Board’s curriculum due to its “woke” components, including Critical Race Theory. The College Board has defended its curriculum against DeSantis’ attacks.
Biden indirectly criticized Florida’s standards during a White House event, where he announced a new national monument named after Emmett Till, a black teenager who was brutally murdered in 1955. Although he did not mention DeSantis by name, Biden’s remarks echoed the criticisms previously voiced by Harris.
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Harris directly confronted the governor, accusing Florida of implementing book bans and distorting the history of slavery to gaslight black Americans.
The White House and the College Board have not responded to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.
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