Have you heard the great news? The College Board has put down their social justice swords and kneeled before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, handing DeSantis yet another huge political victory (we’re kinda losing count at this point).
The updated syllabus removes several authors whom Florida officials identified as problematic, including those associated with critical race theory, the “queer experience,” and black feminism. It also removed required teachings on Black Lives Matter and the case for reparations from the curriculum, though both subjects are present on a list of options for a required research project. The new framework adds “black conservatism” as an idea for a research project. The list of suggested topics “can be refined by local states and districts.”
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College Board CEO David Coleman told the New York Times that the changes were not made in response to political pressure.
“At the College Board, we can’t look to statements of political leaders,” he said, suggesting instead that the changes came from “the input of professors” and “longstanding A.P. principles.”
Coleman told the paper that the board received feedback during an initial test of the course this school year that students connected more with primary sources than the secondary, more theoretical sources in the curriculum which they found to be “quite dense.”
Well, speaking of the New York Times, the New York Times sounds pretty pissed about this new development:
The College Board stripped down some of its AP curriculum for African American Studies after Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida threatened to ban it in his state.https://t.co/nqtPYGO9m9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 1, 2023
Maybe they figured that would be a good step toward atoning for this other headline about Ron DeSantis, which was apparently extremely offensive to people who firmly believe that Ron DeSantis is Ron DeSatan:
I know there must be very good people left at @nytimes who are utterly horrified by headlines like this, as they should be. This level of betrayal of basic journalistic values should keep @nytimes editors up at night in an icy sweat, wondering how they went so wrong. pic.twitter.com/UbGpldf8Wx
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) February 1, 2023
This may be the worst headline I've ever read from any major national news outlet.
The Times transforms DeSantis's aggressive, state-sponsored campaign of bigotry into a savvy brand-building venture by an edgy politician. https://t.co/axcrN0yXCM pic.twitter.com/MOjzlI05le
— Jordan Zakarin (@jordanzakarin) February 1, 2023
Be angrier, New York Times! Take a page from this guy Robert Maguire, research director at Citizens for Ethics. He’s fuming:
College Board caves on AP African American history course https://t.co/i7YNQJL1EP pic.twitter.com/Sl0ZecyLNM
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) February 1, 2023
Note: African American Studies is not the same as African American History, but Robert doesn’t have time to make distinctions. He’s too busy ragin’.
This whole thing is disgusting, but the real cherry on top is that last bit about "black conservatism." Is there going to be a "black progressivism" option too, or is anything that isn't explicitly conservative just assumed to be liberal by default?
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) February 1, 2023
Could there be anything more offensive than black conservatism to Robert Maguire? He’s finna go postal over the idea that students could learn more about black conservatism in an African American Studies course. Everyone knows that black conservatives don’t count, right, Robert?
If a course is going to include lectures on Marxism then what's the problem with allowing students to learn about conservatism too? Could it be that leftists love censorship because they can't win arguments on the merits? https://t.co/Pjx8KKxNom
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) February 1, 2023
Robert’s seething, y’all. But he’s not coping terribly well.
Also, do they actually think that offering the "black conservatism" option, they will assuage the manufactured outrage of people like DeSantis?
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) February 1, 2023
Who’s really manufacturing the outrage, though? Is it Ron DeSantis, whose concerns about the course have been proven well founded? Or is it woke progressive activists like Robert Maguire who insist that conservatives are upset over nothingburgers while complaining about the loss of those nothingburgers?
The funniest part is where the NYT says the College Board "purged the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory…from the formal curriculum."
So much for "CRT is just a grad school theory nobody'd ever teach in public schools." https://t.co/vlrFTXynyc
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) February 1, 2023
We’re so old, we remember when progressives called conservatives paranoid conspiracy theorists for believing that Critical Race Theory was part of some K-12 curricula. Now Maguire and the New York Times, clearly, are lamenting the fact that the College Board has agreed to take Critical Race Theory out of the APAAS course.
It's not being taught and also it's necessary to teach and also it's a right-wing boogeyman and also it's just accurate history and also
— Damin Toell (@damintoell) February 1, 2023
The people who insist that no one would ever try to teach CRT in public schools sure are mad that the College Board is backing down on its plan to teach CRT in public schools.
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) February 1, 2023
So again, we ask: who’s manufacturing the outrage?
this is appalling cowardice @CollegeBoard https://t.co/PN77auANoJ
— ariel (@aritalkstv) February 1, 2023
Nothing says "African American Studies" like having to constantly bend to unjust pressure from white people. https://t.co/jHxifBJThW
— Nunca Trumpismo (@NeverTrumpTexan) February 1, 2023
There will always be quislings and collaborators like the @CollegeBoard https://t.co/Y4KxWiWLZG
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) February 1, 2023
dude is actively evil https://t.co/BJeMVv1Jhf
— martha (@martha_306) February 1, 2023
Fascism takes a lot of non fascists complying in advance to work. We can see this here. https://t.co/LuMXaWsIFW
— barbarism critic (Lulag enjoyer)🛸 (@SxarletRed) February 1, 2023
Complying with racism only fuels more racism. Their goal is to silence Black art, Black beauty, Black truthtelling. Period. They will not be satisfied by anything less. https://t.co/6tHEcPUcw9
— Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis (@RevJacquiLewis) February 1, 2023
There’s plenty more where that came from. Looks like Robert is manufacturing the hell out of the outrage, huh? Get those clicks, buddy! Truth be damned.
It was always absurd for the back half of the course to focus only on radical theories to the exclusion of conservative ones. These changes will almost certainly make the course better and more balanced. https://t.co/LZOxoteVOs
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) February 1, 2023
But the activists who are foaming at the mouth over this don’t want balance. They want Critical Race Theory. They want Queer Theory. They want social justice. They don’t want no education. They just want thought control.
Oh well. I guess you'll have to find some other modality to create far left anti-white racial supremacists to take down the country. Maybe Antifa and Black Lives Matter can do some continuing education courses on the sidewalk. https://t.co/oRi9UT8A8P
— Sarcastic Cupcake (@SarcasticCupcak) February 1, 2023
Now there’s an idea!
Anyway, while Robert et al. are out there getting bent out of shape over the prospect of an AP course curriculum that won’t traffic exclusively in far-leftist theory and propaganda, Ron DeSantis is over here throwing more wins on the pile.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 1, 2023
Setting aside the Times' framing of the subject (of course) this is not just a cosmetic win for DeSantis. This is a substantive achievement with national repercussions. https://t.co/uYUu3P72iV
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) February 1, 2023
DeSantis out here actually racking up policy wins while Trump is griping about who's not being loyal. https://t.co/5FepjMgOib
— Holden (@Holden114) February 1, 2023
All Ron DeSantis needs to do is keep his head down and push forward. It seems to be working out pretty well for him — and, as in this particular case, for the country.
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Related:
Ron DeSantis is ready to yank funding for DEI bureaucracies at Fla. public colleges and universities
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