Prof: Teaching African American Studies Without Discussing Suffering Is Difficult

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida – Conversations about Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to reject Collegeboard Florida’s Advanced Placement African American History Trial continued this week.

After reviewing the proposed curriculum, DeSantis said the course provided more indoctrination than education.

Some were very much like Dr. Marvin Dunn, a former professor at Florida International University, who said that African American studies are a difficult subject to teach, let alone suffering.

“I don’t know how to teach the topic of slavery so that the students don’t feel bad. You cannot tell people that a child was stolen from their mothers and sold, and not tell them that it was evil. You can’t tell kids that the Holocaust happened and babies were burned in ovens without expressing your opinion that it was evil, Dunn said. students how to feel or what you feel, and you really don’t have to tell them how to feel, but we have to share our experiences with our students.”

Dunn said some of the experience was painful.

“I grew up at a time when I had to sit at the back of the bus,” he said. “I can’t tell students how it affected me? I was rejected by the University of Florida for being black. Can I not tell the students about this? So it robs history of history, sterilizes history, and essentially renders it useless.”

He added that the decision to withdraw from the course creates a culture of fear among teachers.

“If I were teaching today, I would be afraid of what I might do,” Dunn said.

For now, he’s back on the drawing board for AP African American Studies before being seen in Florida with a newly announced lawsuit against the governor looming in the background.