Pushing a controversial ban on College Board African American Studies Advanced Placement courses, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fl.) created more polarization demanding the College Board remove the AP course. Yahooo/YouGov poll shows that about 40 of Americans favor banning AP African American studies, similar to the ban proposed by DeSantis. No surprise that the same Yahoo/YouGov poll found 65% of African Americans oppose any ban on the AP course in contrast to 58% of Republicans that favor a ban. Overall, 46% of Americans oppose the ban, less than the 40% mark. White Americans under lobbying from groups like Black Lives Matter and the Southern Poverty Law Center or National Association for Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] overwhelmingly support the College Board’s Advance Placement in African American Studies.
DeSantis objected to the conflation in the College Board’s African American Studies of including “queer theory” or the New York Times “1619 Project” that urges reparations for African Americans because of official U.S. government policy supporting slavery for African Americans. “This course on Black history, what’s one of the lesions about? Queer theory,” DeSantis said last month. “Now who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda,” DeSantis said. Black scholars like Bell Hooks, Angela Davis, TanNehsi Coates, said DeSantis was “divisive.” Core to modern Black studies and essential to include any college-level survey class. “[These are] complicated works of sociology and philosophy. They’re highly contested polemics,” Joshua Zeitz wrote in Politico. Academics want all course material, whether controversial or not.
Yahoo/YouGov’s poll shows that attitudes toward African American Studies fall along racial lines, currently dominated in U.S. party politics. Democrats have become the party of blacks and various gay groups, creating a real polarization between the major political parties. “We read them to sharpen our capacity for analysis and argument. Contra Gov. DeSantis, being assigned a text is not an exercise in indoctrination,” Zeitz wrote in Politico. Republicans, especially Trump supporters, 65% backed a ban on African American AP studies. Showing the contrast, a full 75% of Democrats oppose any ban on African American Studies. Joe Biden’s voters oppose a ban by 75%, corresponding to views of the Democrat Party. Yahoo/YouGov’s polls shows the deep divide between the political parties on the issue of African American Studies, something embraced by 75% of Biden supporters.
DeSantis thinks racial and sexual identity politics should be banned from the public square, thinking that Black Queer studies, reparations, Black Lives Matters, criminal justice reform, should stay out of Democrat debates. DeSantis thinks that race should be kept out of politics and the public square, something opposed by Democrats. DeSantis wants no part of today’s racial politics, where Democrat think race always enters into political discussions. DeSantis and most Republicans believe in American meritocracy where they accept a level playing field where every citizen has the same opportunities and legal protection for success. African Americans and Democrats think the playing field cannot be leveled with “systemic racism” that exists in American society. Yaho/YoGov’s poll shows that 61% of black Americans think that “systemic racism” exists in the country.
Democrats and African American wants critical race theory taught in public schools, stating for the record that there’s no level playing field when it comes to African Americans. Africans Americans and the gay community have take dominant roles in the Democrat Party, subscribing to “systemic racism,” “white privilege” and ubiquitous racial injustice in the criminal justice system. Only 40% of white Americans say that “U.S. public school students are currently taught about African-American history are appropriate. DeSantis and former President Donald Trump are satisfied with the current content of U.S. racial history that tends to minimize the role of slavery, Jim Crow laws and racial discrimination on the success of African Americans. DeSantis has banned Florida’s education system from teaching about critical race theory, blaming whites for discrimination and slavery.
Yahoo’YouGov’s poll shows that the country has a nationwide divide on racial politics, diving blacks and whites, Democrats and Republicans. Democrats overwhelmingly believe that race plays a ubiquitous rule in American politics. Democrats and Republicans are more divided than ever about role of incorporating African American studies, including the role of slavery, Jim Crow, reparations and critical race theory into social studies curriculum in K to 12 public school curriculum. DeSantis in particular wants to ban the new African American curriculum from public school, returning to time when it was taboo to teach anything approaching the truth about American history, especially as presented by historian Howard Zinn. Democrats and Republicans have grown even more divided when it comes to U.S. history, with Republicans seeking to perpetuate old myths and stereotypes.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
