Little Rock Nine survivors address Arkansas' pushback of AP African American Studies
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More than 60 years ago, Arkansas schools helped spearhead the integration of academic settings in the US when a group of nine Black students disrupted segregation at Little Rock Central High School. In the present day, surviving members of the Little Rock Nine have spoken out against the state’s legislative efforts to discourage pupils from enrolling in AP African American Studies.
This month, the state’s education department announced that students may not earn the required credit for graduation for the advanced course and that it did not intend to cover the $100 end-of-course exam. The controversial decision hinges on Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ LEARNS Act. The legislation aims to sanitize the curriculum of critical race theory and other teachings perceived as discriminatory based on race, ethnicity, sex, and other categorizations.
“Until it’s determined whether it violates state law and teaches or trains teachers in CRT and indoctrination, the state will not move forward. The department encourages the teaching of all American history and supports rigorous courses not based on opinions or indoctrination,” said the Arkansas Department of Education in a statement.
Elizabeth Eckford, one of the nine who integrated Central High in 1957, says the decision is nefarious. “I think the attempts to erase history is working for the Republican Party. They have some boogeymen that are really popular with their supporters,” she told the news outlet. The current school year marks the second year that the AP course has been offered to its students.
Eckford’s classmate Terrence Roberts told NBC News that those opposing the teachings of Black American history in the US are ashamed of the photographs that expose the harsh realities of segregation and racism. He said there should not be “laws restricting their ability to learn or what they could learn,” and “I know there are voices pushing back. The question is, will they be successful?”
The state chapter of the NAACP issued a scathing statement that, in part, said, “This decision is reprehensible and an attack on our civil rights as well as the advancement of students of color in Arkansas. Dismissal of an AP African American Studies course is not only a dereliction of duty to ensure equitable education for all Arkansans but shows clear disdain for the lives and experiences that form part of our history. Dismissing this important subject defies centuries of evidence to the contrary. African American history is American history, and failure to comprehend this very simple fact is un-American in and of itself.”
According to the Arkansas Times, at least six schools in the Little Rock School District have agreed to continue offering the college-level course.
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