On June 4, 2024, the South Carolina Department of Education removed graduation credit and funding for the Advanced Placement (AP) course African-American Studies. Additionally, schools must individually contact and be approved by the College Board, the private nonprofit that oversees all AP courses, if they would like to offer the course, a lengthy and complicated process. No changes to this decision have been made, and the course remains banned for the 2025-2026 school year, sparking concerns of historical censorship and the marginalization of African-American history.
The S.C. Department of Education claims the move was based on restrictions to how race and racism is taught in the classroom, believing AP African-American Studies violated these restrictions.
According to the SC Integrity in Education Act, these restrictions include any instruction that affects how the person perceives their own race, such as instilling feelings of guilt or superiority, as well as teaching about implicit bias, systemic racism, critical race theory, and restrictions on teaching current and past discriminatory practices that may cause discomfort, guilt, or psychological distress.
A group of protesters gather at the Florida State Capitol amid the “Stop the Black Attack” rally against Florida’s ban of AP African-American Studies. —image via Alicia Devine, AP
Currently, Florida, Arkansas, and South Carolina have all banned the AP course, and it has drawn widespread criticism. Critics argue that these restrictions lead to censorship of African-American history and other minority topics. Additionally, they claim the restrictions are extremely vague, as even basic instruction on slavery could potentially contribute to white students feeling guilt, which violates these restrictions—stating the rules are overly broad and subjective.
Most famously the “Stop the Black Attack” rally was held in the Florida State Capitol in which critics voiced opposition to Florida’s AP course ban. Civil-rights attorney Ben Crump stated at the rally, “Everybody who is here in America, you have a right to have your culture, your history respected and taught to the children … Are we going to let Governor DeSantis, or anybody, exterminate Black history from the classrooms in Florida?” His remarks echo the growing concerns across Florida, South Carolina, and Arkansas regarding their respective bans.
While many may see this as just one class removed from the AP catalog, many students, teachers, parents, and officials worry about broader consequences for African-American history and censorship. In a state in which nearly 40% of residents are members of minority groups, opponents of the ban claim restricting how race is discussed in schools will create a generation unaware and less equipped to understand inequality.
“There is no world history, state history, or local history without the contributions and impact plus influence of (BIPOC) Black Indigenous People of Color,” stated the Greenville branch of the NAACP. “If it is unconstitutional for us to restrict the rights of someone being able to speak freely, then in that same likeness it should be and is unconstitutional for someone to restrict one's right to learn freely!”