Civil rights attorney Ben Crump plans to file a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the rejection of an Advanced Placement (AP) African American courses being taught in Florida.
As previously reported by News Onyx, Governor Desantis and his administration decided to reject an AP African American history course for high schoolers on January 20.
According to the Florida Department of Education, “the course was inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacked educational value.”
On Wednesday, Crump held a news conference at the Florida Capitol, announcing his plan to sue. The media alert was shared on social media captioned, “MEDIA ALERT: @AttorneyCrump and attorney Craig Whisenhunt will join students and elected officials to announce their intent to file a lawsuit against FL. Gov. DeSantis and the state of Florida for rejecting the AP African American Studies course from being taught in Florida high schools.”
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During the gathering, Crump asked the crowd, “The question really is this, brothers and sisters. Are we going to let Gov. DeSantis, or anybody, exterminate Black history from the classrooms in Florida?”
The crowd responded, “Black History is American History.”
“We are here to give notice to Governor DeSantis that if he does not negotiate with the College Board to allow AP African-American studies to be taught in the classrooms across the state of Florida, that these three young people will be the lead plaintiffs in a historic lawsuit,” he added, referring to the three AP honors students.
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The College Board issued a statement saying they will release the “original framework” for the course on Feb. 1, the first day of Black History Month.
The statement read, “This framework, under development since March 2022, replaces the preliminary pilot course framework under discussion to date. Before a new AP course is made broadly available, it is piloted in a small number of high schools to gather feedback from high schools and colleges. The official course framework incorporates this feedback and defines what students will encounter on the AP Exam for college credit and placement.”
The rejection of the AP African American Studies course by DeSantis is yet another instance of his efforts to suppress and marginalize African Americans and other marginalized communities through his legislation.
