BEREA, Ky. (LEX 18) — The teachings of a late Kentucky-born scholar have been removed from the high school AP African American Studies course.
References to bell hooks, along with other topics, are no longer found, according to the New York Times.
hooks grew up in Kentucky and taught at Berea College in the final years of her life. Her writings address topics like race, class, and gender, according to the center’s founder and director Dr. M. Shadee Malaklou.
“I felt disappointed but not surprised,” she said, reacting to the College Board’s, who sets AP standards, decision. “I think so often we don’t understand what we fear and we fear what we don’t understand.”
hooks, who died in 2021, is remembered for arguing that feminism is for everyone.
The AP change was announced after heavy criticism from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He had blocked an earlier version from being taught in Florida schools, arguing it was not education but instead indoctrination, focused on spreading a political agenda.
“If a message is all about love, not about cancel culture but in calling each other in, how can that be divisive? How can that be political indoctrination? It doesn't serve to divide and conquer, it serves to mutually understand,” Malaklou said.
