Florida Has a Problem

By: Kerri Ullucci

Kerri Ullucci is associate professor of equity and diversity at Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island. With Joi Spencer, she is co-author of Anti-Blackness at School: Creating Affirming Educational Spaces for African American Students (Teachers College Press, 2022).

The Florida Department of Education has a problem with the AP.

Keep in mind, Florida doesn’t have a problem with Advanced Placement courses in general. In a press release from 2021, the Florida Department of Education touted that Florida was second in the nation in successful AP performance. In his glowing support for the test, Governor DeSantis said “Florida is known as the Education State and has long been a national model for providing students access to higher education and college credit-bearing opportunities—like AP—before graduating from high school,” (FLDOE, 2021). DeSantis embraces the benefits of AP for Florida youth.

More importantly, Florida doesn’t have a problem with history-focused AP courses. The top three tests taken by Florida students are 1) Human Geography, 2) US History and 3) World History: Modern. Social studies aren’t the problem.

No, the problem here is the African American Studies course. Just last week, the Florida Department of Education sent a letter to the College Board (who administers the AP) rejecting this course for students in Florida. Notably, the African Americans Studies AP is only in the pilot phase. Regardless, Florida is preemptively on the books as refusing to allow this course. In their letter, the Office of Articulation specifically highlights that the course “significantly lacks educational value” (Bernstein, 2023).

As folks who write about anti-Blackness in school, it would be easy to spend this blog post highlighting the general bias on display in this decision. That is not our goal here.

Instead, we focus on two more concrete offerings. One: an exploration of the word “indoctrinate.” Two: a caution to steel ourselves against gaslighting.

In reading widely the critiques of the AP course (as well as the rhetoric of those supporting CRT bans), the word that comes up frequently is “indoctrination.” The African American studies course is accused by Governor DeSantis of “indoctrinating” students; textbooks are accused of “indoctrinating” students (see Balingit, 2022). Faculty are being accused of “indoctrinating” students (Golden, 2023).

At its most basic, indoctrination is forcing others to accept your beliefs. There is a negative slant to this, in that indoctrination is an uncritical process, one akin to brainwashing. In order to indoctrinate, there needs to be some doctrine, some body of beliefs that are being transferred to or foisted upon the other. So in this case, what is the doctrine? What is supposedly being forced upon students?

The belief that racism is real.

In its most simplistic terms, the fire about critical race theory and the super-human efforts currently underway to censor teaching at all levels, from preschoolers to grad students, is an argument whether racism exists. We do not need to indoctrinate when we are teaching the truth. Indoctrination is a by-product of deception. We have 400 years of evidence about racism. We teach about racism NOT to have students be dragged back into racial division (a critique made by Rufo, 2021) or to have students feel badly about themselves. These are immature arguments, made by people who don’t understand the work of teachers. We teach about racism because it is contemporary, ubiquitous, and true. We teach about it because our most important job as educators is to teach what is real and what will impact youth. We teach about racism because we value those who have experienced racism. We teach about racism because in this age of parental rights, Black, Latinx, Indigenous and AAPI families get to have a say too.

We reject the idea that teaching about the truth—a truth that is demonstrable and real and life-altering—is indoctrination. We can’t let the word scare us.

In a similar vein, we reject the co-opting of equity language for non-equity ends. In reading about CRT and Florida and book bans, it is hard not to get lost in how equity language gets twisted to serve disingenuous purposes. For example, 23 Florida college presidents just voted last week to remove “all woke positions and ideologies by February 1, 2023” from their universities (yes, this is the actual language in the letter: the removing “of all woke positions”). They argue this would ensure “educational freedom” and advance democracy (FLDOE, 2023). In a Washington Post article on the Florida textbook evaluation process, a reviewer argues that a math book “talks about climate change as if it’s a proven fact” and calls into question whether students should see data that the white population is decreasing (Balingit, 2022). It feels surreal. In what has to be the apex example of this, Rufo argues that critical race theory is a form of “state-sanctioned” racism (Rufo, nd). Teaching about racism is a form of racism? We won’t even touch that 99% of teachers have no familiarity with actual CRT, or that teaching anything about race in classrooms is exceedingly rare. We know that reality isn’t spurring these critiques. But the use of racism to define anti-racism should cause pause. We can’t allow ourselves to get tricked by the language. We can’t allow others to define the terms. If you read these articles, and find yourself saying “Wait. What?” know you aren’t confused. See through the trickery. Professors in Florida aren’t magically ensconced in academic freedom now that they can’t talk about race; their ability to teach their very courses is evaporating. Students in Florida do not live freer lives because they are no longer learning about the Civil Rights Movement. Teachers are not more productive now that their professional decision-making has been compromised, their judgment squashed, and their lived realities narrowed. No, let’s not be gaslit here. Let’s call it what it is.

This is anti-Blackness at school.

Resources

Balingit, M. (2022, May 9). DeSantis accused textbooks of ‘indoctrination.’ Here’s what he meant. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/05/09/florida-banned-textbooks-math-desantis/

Bernstein, S. (2023, January 19). Florida schools will not offer AP African American studies course. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/florida-schools-will-not-offer-ap-african-american-studies-course-2023-01-20/

Golden, D. (2023, January 3). Muzzled by DeSantis, critical race theory professors cancel courses or modify their teaching. Propublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/desantis-critical-race-theory-florida-college-professors

Florida Department of Education, (2023, January 18). Florida college system presidents reject ‘woke’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), critical race theory ideologies and embrace academic freedom. https://www.fldoe.org/newsroom/latest-news/florida-college-system-presidents-reject-woke-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dei-critical-race-theory-ideologies-and-embrace-academic-freedom-.stml

Florida Department of Education. (2021, February 25). Florida soars on advanced placement performance. Press Office. https://www.fldoe.org/newsroom/latest-news/florida-soars-on-advanced-placement-performance.stml

Rufo, C. (n.d). The critical race theory briefing book. ChristopherRufo.com. https://christopherrufo.com/crt-briefing-book/

Rufo, C. (2021, July 6). Schools shouldn’t be dragging kids back into racial division. USA Today, 07a.

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