Florida religious leaders to Gov. DeSantis: Stop 'erasing Black studies' and let's talk

TALLAHASSEE — Days after news broke that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration decided to reject a new Advanced Placement course on African American Studies, Black religious leaders, history professors and local officials gathered in a Tallahassee church to urge the state to change direction.

“We urge my beloved governor of Florida and the Florida Department of Education to not diminish, dismantle and destroy the teaching of Black studies and do more research about the power of diversity, equality and inclusion,” said Rev. Dr.  R.B. Holmes Jr., pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, where the event took place Monday morning.

Holmes said they were creating a statewide movement, one that he hoped would spark positive conversations about the value of “learning about all people’s history, and not at the expense of erasing and eliminating Black studies.”

The rejection defense:Florida education officials: African American Studies AP course 'lacks educational value'

Video from 2021:RB Holmes becomes an independent, denounces Florida Republican leaders, surgeon general

He announced a Feb. 16 rally in Tallahassee that will be attended by national civil rights and faith leaders. He later told a USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida reporter that Rev. Al Sharpton, a Baptist minister and a notable civil rights activist, will be there. There will also be a rally on Wednesday afternoon in the state Capitol on the fourth floor rotunda. Called “Stop the Black Attack,” renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Black lawmakers and others are scheduled to speak.

'Contrary to Florida law'

The department's Office of Articulation wrote in a letter to a College Board official Jan. 12 that the AP class is "inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value."

In a Friday evening tweet, Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said the course was “filled with Critical Race Theory and other obvious violations of Florida law.”

“We proudly require the teaching of African American history,” he said. “We do not accept woke indoctrination masquerading as education.”

The tweet included a list of specific concerns about the course. The list says the course has a section on Movement for Black Lives, Black feminism and Black queer studies, and it alleges that it advocates for reparations. The list also enumerates issues with some of the Black authors cited, who have written about topics ranging from Black communism to CRT.

The class has been in development for more than a decade, according to College Board's website. The College Board, which administers Advanced Placement classes and the SAT exam, has offered the class at 60 schools as part of a pilot program. It will be rolled out to hundreds more high schools during the next school year.

The board will release updated curriculum when the pilot program is complete. State education officials said in the letter that they would reconsider approving the course should it be changed to have "lawful, historically accurate content."

AP offers 38 courses. Dr. Larry Rivers, distinguished professor of history at Florida A&M University, said he believes the African American Studies course is valuable, just like the AP European History course offered.

“We are open to dialogue with the governor's office and the Florida Department of Education to resolve this matter as soon as possible, so that the AP African American Studies curriculum can be adopted and offered to high schoolers as soon as possible,” Rivers said.

While the AP course rejection catalyzed the movement talked about in Bethel Missionary Baptist Church Monday, it represents just the latest of frustrations that many Black leaders have voiced with the DeSantis administration.

Rev. Dr. Joseph Wright, pastor of Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church, spoke on Monday about DeSantis’ decision to get rid of two Black-led congressional delegations.  Tallahassee Commissioner Curtis Richardson decried the governor’s “culture war against African Americans.” Richardson accused him of voter suppression, and blasted school voucher extensions that he said would destroy public education.

“We’re here today to tell the governor we’re not going to stand by and just let these things happen to African Americans in our state,” Richardson said.

Holmes said their movement is not going to be a sprint; it’s going to be a marathon.

“We want to unify people, not divide people,” he said.

Holmes, who had been a long-time Republican, did the closing prayer at DeSantis’ first inauguration. But, after taking issue with the governor’s handling of COVID-19 – such as penalizing mask mandates – he switched to independent.

“He’s running for president,” he said when he announced the switch in 2021. “I’m running to save lives.”

Meanwhile, Elder Dr. Chris A. Burney, pastor of Greater St. Mark Primitive Baptist Church, gave the closing prayer at Monday's event.

“A special prayer for our governor, oh God, that you will give him a heart, oh God, that will have a heart for all people,” Burney said, in part.

USA Today Network-Florida government accountability reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Fla. He can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com. Twitter: @DouglasSoule

Contributed: USA Today Network-Florida reporter Kathryn Varn

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Black religious leaders worry DeSantis is 'eliminating Black studies'