After weeks of confusion, Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies has been officially approved by the Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) and will be added to the state-funded course catalog.
This Fall, AP African American Studies is being introduced nationally as a new AP class for high school students through CollegeBoard. Prior to its launch by CollegeBoard, the class had undergone two years of pilot testing across 700 schools nationwide.
Initially, two weeks before Gwinnett County schools began their Fall semester, several students enrolled for this new class were notified that the class was no longer being offered, sparking a statewide back-and-forth about the grounds for which the class was being rejected.
But now, GADOE announced on August 7 that the class would in fact be available to students, stepping back from the superintendent’s initial stance.
On July 24, Georgia State Superintendent Richard Woods released a statement reminding communities that “there has been an African American Studies course code in the catalog of state-funded courses since 2020. Districts using this course code will receive state funding.”
Woods, an elected Republican, added in the same statement that he had concerns about reviving the class, ultimately stating that, “It’s my position that districts should use the existing course code – which offers them the flexibility to develop their own curriculum based on local priorities, or to use standards from the AP course if they choose and in consultation with their communities.”
A week later, on July 31, Superintendent Woods released another statement apologizing for a lack of clarity in his previous statement, eventually concluding that parts of the coursework did violate Georgia law 20-1-11 which addresses the topic of divisive concepts, meaning that Woods would not seek approval for the class as it meant he “…would break [his] oath of office and ask the State Board of Education and our local school districts to ignore the law.” Woods also added in his second statement that intersectionality was “the most glaring violation” of the course.
He said at the time that schools could use the AP material and framework to teach a lower-level course — however, if they did proceed to teach the material as an AP course, it could be challenged for violating 20-1-11.
The Georgia law 20-1-11, or “Divisive Concepts” law, bans teachers from discussing roughly nine topics related to race in classrooms. This includes ideas inherently creating separation and opposition between groups, such as arguments that one race/gender is superior or stereotyping/scapegoating of a certain race or sex. “Divisive Concepts” also include arguments that the United States is inherently racist or sexist.
On August 6, Superintendent Woods was told about a response letter from Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. In the letter, Carr clarified that Georgia law 20-1-11 should not restrict any local school systems from adopting AP, IB, or dual enrollment courses.
“Each such course will be exempted from the provisions of the divisive concepts legislation, so long as these courses are implemented ‘in a professionally and academically appropriate manner and without espousing personal political beliefs.’” Woods said In a statement released on August 7.
The reaction to the controversy over the class has ignited a state-wide conversation about “Divisive Concepts” as well as Critical Race Theory.
Dr. Susana Morris is an Associate Professor of Literature, Media and Communication (LMC) at Tech and has taught several courses on Gender Studies, Black Media Studies, Digital Media, African American Literature, and Afrofuturism.
“Oftentimes when we talk about Blackness in America, we do primarily talk about slavery, and that can be damaging, if we don’t talk about the other aspects of Black culture, such as music, art, food. There’s so many different things that were happening during slavery, before slavery and after slavery,” Morris said.
Before it was eventually approved, teachers and students across the state voiced their disappointment in the relatively last-minute decision not to teach the AP class, particularly in Gwinnett County, the largest school district in Georgia with 183,000 students.
Former Gwinnett County Teacher and Gwinnett County Board member-elect, Rachel Stone, joined students, educators and policymakers at a press conference on July 24, with a brief message: “…reconsider removing the African American Advanced Placement course from our state’s curriculum.”
Georgia is not the first state to have controversy over AP African American Studies. Most notably, Florida also ruled in January of 2023 that the class should not be taught in the state. Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill similar to 20-1-11 dubbed “Stop WOKE (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) Act” which banned teaching some specific topics about race. “We believe in education, not indoctrination,” DeSantis said when signing the bill.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp wrote a letter to Woods asking several questions about the decision. “Though my office does not have any role in these recommendation decisions or approval of curricula, I along with others within my administration would like to learn more about what went into the decision not to recommend this course for approval,” he wrote.
In a post on X on August 5, the Atlanta City Council said that they had approved “a resolution urging Georgia Sstate Sschool Ssuperintendent to recommend AP African American Studies as a course.”
“We don’t live in a race-neutral place,” Dr. Morris said before the approval was announced. “I think part of the issue is these people don’t want white students to become radicalized and to embrace the notion that systemic racism is real and that they have the power to do something about it.”
Ultimately, the class was approved, resolving the issue for now. But the broader debate over how issues of race are taught in schools is far from over — and with Georgia being a key battleground state this November — Georgians shouldn’t be surprised if they see similar fights start up again soon.