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Last week, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis explained his rejection of a proposed Advanced Placement African American Studies class, I thought about the small number of Black students enrolled in AP courses. A 2020 by The Education Trust pegged it at 9%, despite counting 15% of high school students nationwide as Black.

I was one of those few Black students 20 years ago. More often than not, I was the only African American kid in my class, the social ramifications of which I didn鈥檛 fully understand until I attended a historically Black university years later. I can only imagine how many more Black classmates I might have had in an AP course if the curriculum presented had been relatable to students of African descent.

Fortunately, I didn鈥檛 solely rely on the public school system for an understanding of Black history. I still have a box of BlacFax, a Trivial Pursuit-style game that my parents bought for my younger brother and me when we were kids, with the intent of teaching us about popular African American facts along with less conventional anecdotes. I didn鈥檛 fully understand the ramifications of this either, until I became much older and gained a profound appreciation for the intricacies of Carter G. Woodson鈥檚 view of Black history.

鈥淲e should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history,鈥� he said in 1927, a year after starting Negro History Week.

Clearly, Dr. Woodson didn鈥檛 start the week, which ultimately became Black History Month, for the purpose of an annual occasion. He started it because he realized that Black people and our history had been omitted from public education.

That omission comes with a price 鈥� the devaluing of Black lives. Thought turns into deed, as Dr. Woodson expressed in 鈥淭he Mis-Education of the Negro,鈥� when he said 鈥渢here would be no lynching if it did not start in the schoolroom.鈥�

AP/FILE

African American historian and author Carter G. Woodson in an undated photograph. 鈥淲e should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history,鈥� he said in 1927.

Such a statement might be seen as extreme 鈥� or no longer relevant 鈥� until one looks at the reasoning behind Florida鈥檚 ban of . As reported by CBS, a Jan. 12 letter from the state鈥檚 Department of Education the course 鈥渋s inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.鈥� Specific concerns were noted about such topics as intersectionality, reparations, Black queer theory, and 鈥淏lack Study and the Black Struggle in the 21st Century.鈥� The board also leveled at the inclusion of Black authors and activists such as Angela Davis, whom they referred to as a 鈥渟elf-avowed Communist and Marxist.鈥�

Quite simply, Mr. DeSantis鈥� critique and the board鈥檚 evaluation contain the language of segregation. The attribution of communism as a pejorative is similar to the Red Scare rhetoric of the 1950s and 1960s, from which not even Martin Luther King was .

The power of language and its importance to freedom 鈥� or oppression 鈥� cannot be overstated. It is no coincidence that Mr. DeSantis and politicians of a similar ideology choose to either attack or co-opt phrasing such as 鈥渨oke鈥� or 鈥渃ritical race theory.鈥� Those phrases are seedlings, which, in fertile ground, can cultivate honest instruction and dialogue about race relations.

A commentary from one of my favorite movies, 鈥淰 for Vendetta,鈥� puts it this way in a memorable speech about revolution:

Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn鈥檛 there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression.

Dr. Woodson saw Negro History Week as a steppingstone to the understanding that Black people are part of American history. Nearly a century later, some see this AP course filling a similar role.聽

Henry Louis Gates Jr., a noted scholar of African American history and literature, Time magazine that the creation of the course signified 鈥渦ltimate acceptance and ultimate academic legitimacy.鈥�

鈥淎P African American Studies is not [critical race theory]. It鈥檚 not the 1619 Project,鈥� explained Dr. Gates, who helped develop the course. 鈥淚t is a mainstream, rigorously vetted, academic approach to a vibrant field of study, one half a century old in the American academy, and much older, of course, in historically Black colleges and universities.鈥�

But this has never been a discussion about critical race theory as much as a discussion about critical thinking. The need for Black history 鈥� American history 鈥� outside of the month of February is indisputable.

Yet 鈥溾�� is the word Mr. DeSantis used to describe the course. That鈥檚 an interesting take from a governor trying to stop 鈥渨oke.鈥� I can鈥檛 help but think about another controversial governor, George Wallace, who attempted to block integration at the University of Alabama in 1963.

The College Board has announced it is revising the pilot course, currently taught at 60 high schools, and will . Will public school students be able to read not only about Mr. Wallace but also about the nuanced reasoning of Black thought leaders and activists, such as the Black Panthers, who embraced communism?

That鈥檚 the beauty of this controversy, though. My gut feeling is that, like Mr. Wallace, the governor of Florida will eventually have to remove himself from the doorway of history, and the taxpaying citizens of the Sunshine State, regardless of race, will then enjoy a fuller understanding of American history. At least one , originating with high school students, is in the works if Florida doesn't reverse course.聽

One of the greatest lessons about education is that it doesn鈥檛 always take place in a classroom. That鈥檚 true of the study of Africans in America. Here鈥檚 hoping that the rebellious nature of people against authoritarianism manifests itself in their desire to learn more about the Negro in history.

Ken Makin is the host of the 鈥淢akin鈥� a Difference鈥� podcast.聽