GREENVILLE, S.C.—
The NAACP Chapter in Greenville County is coming out against the South Carolina Department of Education’s choice to take AP African American studies out of the schools.
People in charge say that the removal is wrong and hurts the state.
The school districts in Greenville County said they were told on June 4 that AP courses in African American studies will not be offered during the 2024–25 school year.
The district said they have time to think about what’s next because this course was planned for next spring at some high schools in Greenville County.
As of this year, African American studies is no longer an AP option. However, the Department of Education says districts can still offer the course content as a locally approved honors course. Reverend J.M. Flemming from The Greenville County NAACP chapter said that these honors courses won’t be as helpful for students as an AP course.
“Letting the local counties and everyone else have it isn’t fair. Our state needs to say that this is an important part of our curriculum for all of our students, not just black students,” he says.
Flamming said that the AP course gives high school kids who can’t afford college a head start by letting them earn college credits while they’re still in high school. Flemming said that taking away African American studies as an AP choice sends the wrong message and moves our state backward.
“That doesn’t make sense.” “How many other classes do black and white students take that help black and white students move forward in their college careers?” he asks. “For people like me who fought, who went to war and fought for everyone’s rights in this country, you have to ask, Have we been lied to? Have we been tricked?”
The South Carolina Department of Education said that AP African American Studies was added as a test run two years ago.
In a statement, they wrote:
“Since the start of this pilot program many years ago, there has been a lot of debate about the course, mostly about issues that South Carolina’s General Assembly directly addressed in a budget amendment and in pending permanent legislation.” Also, the state’s social studies guidelines are about to go through their regular review cycle. Because of this, the SCDE has not approved any new statewide social studies classes. Instead, they are working to make sure that future course offerings are in line with both the soon-to-be-updated standards and state law.
