Florida and the DeSantisizing of History

So, now AP courses are under DeSantis' scrutiny. Floridian high schoolers are, he claims, at risk of having their innocence lost if they are able to take an AP course in African-American Studies. The course has been summarily banned because he feels it lacks educational value, and the College Board should "come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content." HUH?

The course has been in development for over a decade, and it presents a sophisticated examination and presentation of information not found in most textbooks. I wish I had been able to take a class like that. It might have helped me understand more fully our contemporary social problems a little more deeply. Wait--isn't that the goal of education? Not in Florida. Not in a lot of our states and communities-- it is pretty damned scary.

This makes me think sadly and ashamedly about my own miseducation. I've been working long and hard for years to balance my knowledge, taking courses, reading both fiction and nonfiction, and talking to BIPOC people as often as I can about what I know I'm missing. I recall vividly my elementary school classes, most specifically a social studies vocabulary quiz that I aced. I was so proud. I had studied well, and I could accurately define "quadroon," "octoroon," and "mulatto." And I knew for sure that male American Indians were called braves, and the women were called squaws.

O MY GOD. Such indoctrination. What a compliant little student I was, too.

I cringe every single time I think about this from my adult perspective. There I was, a small white girl-child, successfully learning ignorant language and social policy. Don't even try to tell me there isn't systemic racism being taught-- I know it was, is, and will be, as long as we have officials who are "protecting" our children from knowing history. These things should make us uncomfortable; it is through discomfort that we grow as human beings. 

No one wants kids to feel any collective guilt about the actions of the past, but it would be great if we, as a culture, could come to acknowledge that there are some really awful things that happened, and those things shifted how our nation was formed and how it operates. Here in New Hampshire, we have a fabulous resource, The Black Heritage Trail, in Portsmouth. I'm going to make it a point to visit it again this year (the last time I did, it was still in its early development). Yes, visitors to Portsmouth can tour Strawbery Banke and the Puddledock community in the same trip. And there is a new addition to the Strawbery Banke experience that encompasses Abenaki living and heritage as well. 

It's not easy being an educator or a human being these days, but at least some of us (most?) are trying.

Take good care,

C