Florida’s Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor, a black Democrat, has agreed with Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in his decision to block a proposed AP African American Studies course from being taught in the state.
“I think it’s trash,” Proctor said about the course, according to Fox News. “There is grave concern about the tone and the tenor of leadership’s voice from the highest spaces in our state being hostile to teaching of African American history.”
“Well frankly I’m against the College Board’s curriculum. I think it’s trash. It’s not African American history. It is ideology,” the Democrat continued. “I’ve taught African American history, I’ve structured syllabuses for African American history. I am African American history. And talking about ‘queer’ and ‘feminism’ and all of that for the struggle for freedom and equality and justice has not been no tension with queerness and feminist thought at all.”
The course, which is being developed by the College Board and is currently undergoing pilots at five dozen high schools across the country, has been criticized for pushing leftist activism instead of studying black history.
The course was blocked by DeSantis on the grounds that it violated the state’s Stop WOKE Act that was passed last year. Florida’s Department of Education told the College Board that the course’s content is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value,” but that the state would reconsider the course if the organization made the material “lawful” and “historically accurate.”