This Black History Month, fight for the freedom to learn

(People For the American Way) – A little over a year ago, the College Board unveiled its long-awaited draft Advanced Placement African American Studies curriculum. What happened next was sad – and all too predictable. Florida officials, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, howled. They claimed the course “lacks educational value” and violated state laws against teaching about race and racism. The College Board initially caved to Florida’s demands and said the course would be heavily redacted, then said it wouldn’t. Related Stories At the end of 2023, it released the final version of the course, and it’s…better. But it’s still missing some important concepts. The new course omits any discussion of “structural racism” and makes studying the Black Lives Matter movement – modern Black history by any measure – optional. That pretty much sums up the state of the fight against censorship and book-banning in this Black History Month: better, but still problematic. On the plus side, the last few months have brought some very good news. School board candidates endorsed by the pro-censorship group Moms for Liberty went down to resounding defeats last fall. After Illinois became the first state to prohibit book bans, several states – including Colorado,...