A Georgia education chief has sparked outrage by saying an advanced black studies course for high schoolers breaks state law.
Richard Woods, the elected Republican superintendent of schools, says the Advanced Placement course in African American Studies falls foul of Peach State rules about teaching divisive racial concepts.
In particular, he highlights the concept of ‘intersectionality’ in the lesson plans.
That’s an idea about overlapping systems of ‘privilege’ and ‘disadvantage,’ hatched by scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in the 1990s.
It asserts that straight, white, men, for example, get many breaks in life, while queer, black women face discrimination on all fronts.
Georgia high schools could get in trouble for teaching a controversial black studies course
Democrats and liberals in the state have railed against Woods, saying there’s nothing wrong with the course.
The controversy comes as education emerges as a frontline in the culture wars between liberals and conservatives.
Many parents worry that progressive-leaning educators and curriculum designers present one-sided lessons about race, gender and sexual identity as a form of classroom indoctrination.
For that reason, Georgia lawmakers in 2022 passed a law banning the teaching of divisive racial concepts in schools.
That includes claims that America is ‘fundamentally or systematically racist.’
Students should not ‘feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of his or her race’ due to school lessons, the law says.
So far, 18 states have passed such bans, based on an executive order from then-president Donald Trump.
The Advanced Placement course drew national scrutiny last year when Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would ban it in the Sunshine State.
South Carolina officials in June refused to approve the course, though individual districts there can still offer it.
In Georgia, Woods said he was blocking the course, but had not explained his reasoning.
On Wednesday, he said he’d reviewed the content and ‘it was clear that parts of the coursework did violate the law.’
‘The most glaring violation is on the topic of intersectionality,’ he said.
The designers of the course, Woods said, had made the mistake of treating a sociological theory as a fact.
‘If the Advanced Placement course had presented a comparative narrative with opposing views on this and other topics, an argument could be made that the course did not violate Georgia law,’ he said.
The superintendent also said he’d asked Attorney General Chris Carr if schools can still teach the course, using a carve-out in the 2022 law.
Woods has faced opposition on several fronts.
Georgia school chief Richard Woods said the ‘most glaring violation is on the topic of intersectionality.’
Woods warns about teaching ‘intersectionality,’ a theory about overlapping systems of ‘privilege’ and ‘disadvantage’ that is often presented to students as a diagram
Nikki Merritt, a Democratic state senator, said Woods’ approach ‘makes no sense.’
Nikki Merritt, a Democratic state senator from Grayson, said Woods’ approach ‘makes no sense.’
Mikayla Arciaga, a campaigner for the Intercultural Development Research Association, called for the repeal of the 2022 law about divisive concepts.
‘Being black in America should not be a divisive concept,’ she said in a statement.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, did not comment on the course, but has reportedly asked Woods tough questions about his interpretation of the law.
The College Board, a nonprofit testing body that offers Advanced Placement curricula on a range of subjects, defended its course.
Spokesperson Holly Stepp said the black studies class is a ‘dynamic and robust course that is rooted in academic scholarship.’
She denied that it seeks to indoctrinate students, saying they’re ‘expected to analyze different perspectives from their own.’
‘No points on an AP exam are awarded for agreement with a viewpoint,’ Stepp added.
Intersectionality is just one of 74 required topics in the course, she said.
The course description lists ‘The Black Feminist Movement, Womanism, and Intersectionality’ as one topic in the year-long course.
It seeks to explain ‘how the black feminist movement of the twentieth century drew inspiration from earlier black women’s activism.’
Another topic, ‘Interlocking Systems of Oppression,’ looks at ‘how social categories (e.g., race, gender, class, sexuality, ability) are interconnected.’
It then ‘considers how their interaction with social systems creates unequal outcomes for individuals.’
Some districts have said they will teach the course despite the controversy, but others have canceled their plans.
The Atlanta, DeKalb County and Cobb County school districts have all said they will offer the course in some high schools.
The state’s largest district, Gwinnett County, said Tuesday that it wouldn’t offer the class.
Students who score well on an exam can usually earn college credit.
Intersectionality and other aspects of the once-obscure academic discipline known as ‘critical race theory’ are divisive issues in the culture wars.
Conservatives use the term in schools and statehouses nationwide to denounce curricula and policies they consider too liberal.
It rests on the premise that racial bias — intentional or not — is baked into US laws and institutions.
High school teachers have said they do not teach the theory, but conservative critics say it’s made its way into lesson plans regardless.
With wire agencies.
