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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 30, 2023

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Your hypothetical Important Ideas of the 20th Century course, and I think the way you're choosing to imagine the white nationalist course, aren't quite the same as what's happening here. You're ignoring the social and academic context in which this course is being introduced.

This isn't just the equivalent of a course having high school students learn the tenets of white nationalism — which most people would already find wildly objectionable, even if you don't — it's the equivalent of white nationalists themselves introducing such a course, in which students are not only taught about white nationalist beliefs but are presented with history interpreted through a white nationalist lens and taught how to perform such interpretation themselves. Also white nationalists get to write and grade the exam, can veto syllabi that deviate from their understanding of what the course should be, and know they can rely on most teachers interested in teaching the course either being white nationalists themselves or at least naively willing to accept white nationalist framing.

So, sure, in some extremely hypothetical sense a state where the consensus was against CRT could adapt this African American Studies course to "local priorities and preferences" by having students learn its CRT-derived "core concepts" via James Lindsey. Those students might even have a clearer picture of those concepts than they'd get from reading the often obfuscatory writings of their proponents! But in practice, no, you couldn't remotely do this. The College Board wouldn't approve your syllabus, on the contextually reasonable basis that it didn't represent African American Studies as taught in colleges. Your students wouldn't be able demonstrate "correct" (that is, politically correct) understanding on open-ended exam questions.

Almost certainly, the "local priorities and preferences" language just cashes out as "you can add some modules about local history," not "you can refocus the course on questioning the validity of the analytical framework that underpins the entire academic field it's situated within."

Almost certainly, the "local priorities and preferences" language just cashes out as "you can add some modules about local history,"

As mentioned previously, I have taken several AP trainings, and that is absolutely NOT what what that language means. They make a rather big deal about teacher autonomy.

Those students might even have a clearer picture of those concepts than they'd get from reading the often obfuscatory writings of their proponents!

Yes, they probably would, as I argued in another response.

The College Board wouldn't approve your syllabus, on the contextually reasonable basis that it didn't represent African American Studies as taught in colleges.

  1. That is conflating the TOPICS that are taught with HOW they are taught. The AP course audit looks at coverage, and at whether students are asked to use analytical skills, etc. It is of course possible that this course will be an exception, but a claim that it will be is based purely on the assumption that the course is intended to be indoctrination. As I said in my initial post, "studies" courses often are, in my very limited experience solely at the HS level. But that does not mean that they must be.

  2. The bigger problem with a James Lindsey-based course is that it would fall afoul of Florida's Stop WOKE Act, because it would be teaching the subject in a non-objective manner. You have inadvertently set up a strawman, since my point all along has been simply that a course which assigned students both Kimberle Crenshaw and her critics would meet the criteria of both the College Board and FL law.

You have inadvertently set up a strawman, since my point all along has been simply that a course which assigned students both Kimberle Crenshaw and her critics would meet the criteria of both the College Board and FL law.

I feel like I've addressed this already. Reading Crenshaw and her critics might be a reasonable basis for a class, but not if Crenshaw supporters get to define the "core concepts" of the class, the syllabus has to be approved by Crenshaw supporters, and the exam will be written and graded by Crenshaw supporters. It is entirely unreasonable to ask people who disagree with Crenshaw to accept this.

It is entirely unreasonable to ask people who disagree with Crenshaw to accept this.

Again, I think you are addressing an argument that I did not make. As I have said, if Florida doesn't want to offer the class, or any class, that discusses topic X, that is fine. So, I agree that there is nothing unreasonable about that. What is unreasonable is claiming that the College Board requires that the course be taught in a one-sided manner, which is what FL seems to be claiming.