Editor’s note: The following story was created as an entry for the FSPA Digital Quick Turn Written Commentary contest. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) administration has rejected the introduction of a new Advanced Placement (AP) course, which centers around African American studies.

On Jan. 12, in a letter addressed to the College Board, the Florida Department of Education Office of Articulation argued that “As presented, the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.” The Department of Education would only be open to reconsidering its decision if “College Board would be willing to come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content.”

The unlawful and un-historically accurate curriculum includes egregious topics, such as “Intersectionality and Activism,” “Black Feminist Literary Thought,” and perhaps the most appalling topic to Florida Republicans, “Black Queer Studies.” The comprehensive curriculum regarding all facets of African American history has been labeled as “woke indoctrination masquerading as education” by Florida’s Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr.

“Woke indoctrination” and Critical Race Theory (CRT) have become all too common in Republican vocabulary, as far-right legislators have used them as buzzwords to incite outrage in right-wing groups and politicize curriculum in classrooms. Republicans are attempting to impede students’ education by villainizing a nuanced approach to learning and issuing a call to arms against introspective instruction.

The notion that high schoolers enrolling in a class about African American history is unpatriotic is, ironically, wholly un-American. Our identity as a nation is not, and should not be, predicated exclusively on whiteness. Despite what Republicans like DeSantis may say, America is built on the backs of African Americans and their contributions—a detail overlooked, and often omitted, from textbooks. History is written by the victors—or rather the conquerors. In American history, white leaders are often placed on pedestals, while the accomplishments of minorities are disregarded.

The goal of this course is not to indoctrinate, but to educate students who willingly choose to learn a comprehensive history of their country and the people that helped found it. To restrict a student’s right to choose what to learn is not only detrimental to this generation’s learning but also completely contradicts Republican values of decreasing government involvement in people’s personal lives.

To claim that African American history is “unlawful” and not historically accurate is a blatant dismissal of the Black experience and struggle, as well as an attempt to dilute an otherwise whitewashed account of America. You cannot teach American history without African American history, and what DeSantis is trying to do is misconstrue the narrative of our nation’s past in an attempt to evade any accountability for past systemic prejudice against African Americans.

What is DeSantis so afraid of? Giving students the opportunity to develop a holistic and complex perspective on a people so significant to America is not “Critical Race Theory” or “woke indoctrination,” it’s acknowledging the reality of the nation we live in. It’s teaching history—no matter your political ideology.