Students vow to sue DeSantis over rejection of AP African-American studies course

Three high school students represented by attorney Benjamin Crump are planning to sue Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for rejecting a new high school Advanced Placement African-American studies course, the prominent civil rights lawyer said Wednesday.

As Common Dreams reported last week, DeSantis rejected the pilot course in AP African-American studies being tested by the College Board—the organization behind the SAT exam—as he believes it “lacks educational value” and violates the state’s Stop WOKE Act by promoting critical race theory (CRT). There is little to no evidence that CRT—a graduate-level academic discipline examining systemic racism—is being taught in any K-12 school in Florida, or anywhere in the United States.

“We are here to give notice to Gov. 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,” Crump said during a Wednesday press conference at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, referring to students Elijah Edwards, Victoria McQueen, and Juliette Heckman.

Victoria McQueen, a junior at Leon High School in Tallahassee, said that “there are many gaps in American history regarding the African-American population. The implementation of an AP African-American history class will fill in those gaps.”

“Stealing the right for students to gather knowledge on a history that many want to know about because it’s a political agenda goes to show that some don’t want… the horrors this country has done to African-Americans to finally come to light,” she added.

Another one of the students, high school sophomore Elijah Edwards, said that “Gov. DeSantis decided to deny the potentially life-changing class and effectively censor the freedom of our education and shield us from the truths of our ancestors.”

“I thought here in this country, we believe in the free exchange of ideas, not the suppression of it,” he added.

Also present at the press conference were Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (D-63), Florida Legislative Black Caucus Chairwoman Dianne Hart (D-61), state Sen. Shevrin Jones (D-35), American Federation of Teachers secretary-treasurer Fedrick Ingram, and National Black Justice Coalition executive director David Johns.

“By rejecting the African-American history pilot program, Ron DeSantis clearly demonstrated he wants to dictate whose story does and doesn’t belong,” said Driskell.

Originally published at Commondreams.org.