Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) scored yet another K.O. to wokeism Wednesday when College Board, the company behind Advanced Placement courses for high schoolers, released its revised curriculum for AP African American Studies after the Sunshine State rejected it for its litany of woke principles, including Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, and queer theory. But when the head of College Board and the lead adviser joined CBS Mornings, none of that was brought up.
Instead, the course was treated as completely innocuous. Socialist co-host Tony Dokoupil explained in the first of three teases that Florida had “decided to ban” it and they were guilty of an itchy trigger finger because “the College Board has not actually released the full details of what the class would cover” until Wednesday.
Neither of those things were true as, along with the fact that College Board could re-up their request to Florida, the outline had been released (which allowed Florida to wage specific complaints).
The softball segment opened with Dokoupil offering a slight correction on the “controversial” class:
Florida’s Education Department under Governor Ron DeSantis has already announced the course will not be allowed in Florida high schools, at least based on the pilot even though the actual has not been released. The framework for the class has not been available until now. First on CBS Mornings, College Board CEO David Coleman and AP African American director and program manager Brandi Waters join us to unveil what’s actually in this course that’s got everybody talking.
Waters offered nothing but fluff, boasting the “amazing” and “exciting” class will give “students...the opportunity to delve into the depths of African American experiences” by “see[ing] the diversity of these communities and the broader connections between the U.S. and the African diaspora” through not just history, but “the arts and the sciences and politics.”
Dokoupil asked how much the pilot course changed from Wednesday’s curriculum, but Waters was again allowed to skate by with some pointless answer about the College Board asked students “which sources are interesting, which sources are engaging, which sources make your creativity come alive and started tweaking from there.”
Co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King chimed in with a lament and some disinformation: “[W]hat did you think about the controversy especially in Florida where people were criticizing the course who really hadn’t seen it and didn’t know anything about it?”
College Board CEO David Coleman similarly drudged through a field of nothingness with a statement claiming, “we at the College Board don’t really look to the statements of politicians, but we look to the record of history” along with “feedback from teachers and students as well as 300 professors” to create “an unflinching encounter...that gives young people the chance to think for themselves.”
Following a sidebar about black history being American history fill-in co-host David Begnaud didn’t address Florida’s belief that CRT was presence in the course, but brought up CRT more broadly to say it’s “become so politically charged and it’s almost used to denigrate some in the lexicon” and thus “misused.”
He then asked Waters: “[W]hat do you tell people who say, oh, it’s critical race theory, that’s what it — what do you say to them?”
Waters replied as many liberals have, which isn’t to talk about the supposed prevalence of white supremacy and racism still embedded in America’s DNA (and those of white people writ large), but instead brush it off: “[A]s a scholar who’s read many of these works, the first question I have to ask is what they mean by critical race theory.”
Coleman joined in for more clean-up (click “expand”):
COLEMAN: And I’ll you just our point of view in the advanced placement program —
BEGNAUD: Please.
COLEMAN: — about theories like this, it’s not about picking this theory or that. No AP course, whether our course in Japanese Culture and Language or Spanish Culture and Language, requires students to study a specified theory, trains them in interpretation. Instead it immerses them directly in the facts and evidence and lets them think for themselves.
BEGNAUD: The facts and evidence.
COLEMAN: Instead what they do is they have a research project at the end of the course where they get to pick something, and then they do compare what they’re learning about to other interpretations.
King alluded to a complaint from Florida that the course “lack[ed] education value,” but went no further in elaborating why they said that (which was because of its political activism).
With time running out, Coleman framed the course as one about appreciating black contributions to American life while Waters boasted that such topics Florida has had concerns about “has been around for awhile, but I know...this field has changed the way that I think about my communities” and “how I relate to others.”
CBS’s kid-gloves treatment of College Board was brought to you by advertisers such as Google and Lactaid. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from February 1, click “expand.”
CBS Mornings
February 1, 2023
7:25 a.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Coming Up; African American Course Controversy]
TONY DOKOUPIL: We have news coming up this morning on the fight over education in Florida. It’s going on right now. To remind you, the state education board under Governor Ron DeSantis recently decided to ban a new AP course in African American studies. Of course, the governor calls [it] a form of indoctrination. But here’s the thing — the College Board has not actually released the full details of what the class would cover. But they will today. And first on CBS Mornings, we’ll talk with the two College Board officials who will reveal those details right here. That’s coming up.
(....)
8:00 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: School Course Controversy]
DOKOUPIL: We’re also going to have a first look at a course in African American studies the Florida Department of Education has banned. The College Board CEO and the course creator will show us what’s actually in it.
(....)
8:11 a.m. Eastern [TEASE]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Ahead; AP African American Studies]
DOKOUPIL: Alright, ahead and first on CBS Mornings, the creators of a new AP course on African American history reveals what’s in the course after Florida already decided to ban it.
(....)
8:17 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: CBS News; Black History Month]
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: First on; African American Course Controversy; College Board Reveals Framework of AP African American Studies Course]
DOKOUPIL: As we mark the start of Black History Month, the College Board is introducing a first of its kind course on African American studies. It’s a first for many reasons, in part because high school students, for the first time, will combine history along with art and culture in this course. It’s also become controversial. Florida’s Education Department under Governor Ron DeSantis has already announced the course will not be allowed in Florida high schools, at least based on the pilot even though the actual has not been released. The framework for the class has not been available until now. First on CBS Mornings, College Board CEO David Coleman and AP African American director and program manager Brandi Waters join us to unveil what’s actually in this course that’s got everybody talking.
GAYLE KING: Yeah.
DOKOUPIL: So, Brandi, I want to go to you first as the creator of this course. What’s in it, what can students expect?
BRANDI WATERS: This course is so exciting. It’s an amazing course. It’s one where students have the opportunity to delve into the depths of African American experiences. They see the diversity of these communities and the broader connections between the U.S. and the African diaspora.
KING: Mmhmm.
WATERS: It’s a course that allows students, as you mentioned, to explore resources in the arts and the sciences and politics and really come away understanding their current situation much more deeply.
DOKOUPIL: How much did it change from the pilot to what’s being revealed today?
WATERS: So, we were constantly iterating. We put on different sources for the first pilot and immediately started talking with students and teachers where the course was living and just asked them which sources are interesting, which sources are engaging, which sources make your creativity come alive —
KING: Mmhmm.
WATERS: — and started tweaking from there.
KING: David, what did you think about the controversy especially in Florida where people were criticizing the course who really hadn’t seen it and didn’t know anything about it?
DAVID COLEMAN: You know, we at the College Board don’t really look to the statements of politicians, but we look to the record of history. So when we revised the course, there were only two things we went to. We went to what Brandi described, which is feedback from teachers and students as well as 300 professors who have been involved in building the course and we went back to principles that have guided AP for a long time and served us well.
KING: Mmhmm.
COLEMAN: And what you’ll find when you read it, as I hope you will —
KING: Mmhmm.
COLEMAN: — is you’ll find an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture —
KING: Mmhmm.
COLEMAN: — that gives young people the chance to think for themselves.
KING: And isn’t African American history American history, as well? I think people sometimes make the distinction. Don’t you?
COLEMAN: I couldn’t agree with you more. You know, we all know today is the first day of black history month.
KING: Yes
COLEMAN: And I know you know that the great black educator Carter Woodson —
KING: Mmhmm.
COLEMAN: — is the one who inspired Black History Month and he said in 1922 — excuse me, 1922, just about 100 years before today, he said soon we’ll be able to tell our story, and only then can we be recognized as people.
DOKOUPIL: But this raises the question and Brandi maybe you speak to this, if, you know, of course, African American history is American history, why the separate course? Why the need for it?
WATERS: Well, what’s really exciting about this course is it’s not an African American history course. It’s an African American studies course, so we’re giving students the opportunity to enter this professional discipline that normally they wouldn’t access until college but now they can get it in high school.
KING: And all students?
WATERS: All students.
KING: All students.
DAVID BEGNAUD: Brandi, the phrase critical race theory has become so politically charged and it’s almost used to denigrate some in the lexicon. When you hear the phrase and the way it’s misused, what do you tell people who say, oh, it’s critical race theory, that’s what it — what do you say to them?
WATERS: Well, I think, as a scholar who’s read many of these works, the first question I have to ask is what they mean by critical race theory. I’m sure you’ve had this before, too.
COLEMAN: Absolutely. And I’ll you just our point of view in the advanced placement program —
BEGNAUD: Please.
COLEMAN: — about theories like this, it’s not about picking this theory or that. No AP course, whether our course in Japanese Culture and Language or Spanish Culture and Language, requires students to study a specified theory, trains them in interpretation. Instead it immerses them directly in the facts and evidence and lets them think for themselves.
BEGNAUD: The facts and evidence.
COLEMAN: Instead what they do is they have a research project at the end of the course where they get to pick something, and then they do compare what they’re learning about to other interpretations. So —
KING: What course —
COLEMAN: — yeah?
KING: — yeah one of the criticisms was it significantly lacks educational value.
DOKOUPIL: Again, based on the pilot.
KING: Yeah. Based — yeah — what do you —
COLEMAN: I —
KING: — both think when you hear that?
COLEMAN: — I — I got to tell you. Working with Brandi over these past few years has been a glory to me. And I just want to give her a chance to describe the so many surprises — everything is in this course. The black inventors and artists who have just recently been seen.
KING: Mmhmm.
COLEMAN: — the black women and men and gay Americans who are pivotal in the civil rights movement.
BEGNAUD: That’s right. That’s right.
COLEMAN: The people of faith from all backgrounds —
KING: Mmhmm.
COLEMAN: — who contributed to the anti-slavery cause and the role of faith in the black community. This course hides from nothing. It sees everything. But, Brandi, what do you think?
WATERS: Sure. I think —
KING: — less than 30 seconds.
WATERS: — that critique has been around for a while, but I know in my life this field has changed the way that I think about my communities, how I relate to others, and students will have that same experience.
KING: Can adults take the class? I’m thinking this sounds good.
DOKOUPIL: Probably buy the textbook.
KING: Yeah.
BEGNAUD: Brandi —
DOKOUPIL: Bet it runs $100, though.
BEGNAUD: — Brandi —
KING: — yeah, can adults take the class? I’m serious.
WATERS: They should follow along with students.
KING: Okay.
WATERS: Yeah.
KING: Okay. Okay.
COLEMAN: We’re hearing about families who are doing the readings at their dinner table.
KING: Yeah.
COLEMAN: This is deep work.
KING: Yes.
BEGNAUD: [INAUDIBLE]. Thank you.
KING: Bravo. Congrats.
BEGNAUD: We’re better for listening —
KING: Starting the day —
BEGNAUD: — to you both.
DOKOUPIL: Yeah.
KING: — thank you.
BEGNAUD: We’ll be right back.
KING: And you can — people can start — [COMMERCIAL BREAK]
