“ … it was clear that parts of the coursework (for the AP African American Studies program) did violate the law” — Georgia State School Superintendent Richard Woods.
The legislation to which Richard Woods is referring is the highly controversial 2022 Georgia law 20-1-11, which prohibits teaching of “divisive concepts.” Woods has danced back and forth on this essential issue — the study of African American history being taught in Georgia schools — like a drunken sailor.
He has now approved the course for state funding. If Woods was not so pitiful — and the issue so important — his outrageous, contrary, confusing actions would be hilarious.
Credit: Courtesy Photo
Credit: Courtesy Photo
The legislation that Woods cited as cause for his concern is House Bill 1084, which prohibits teaching of “divisive concepts,” as derived from a Trump administration policy. Whatever that is.
When I speak to some of my younger well-to-do friends and relatives, they tell me racism in America is dead. I tell them that they are living in a fantasy, Disney World. However, this recent controversy over the AP African American Studies course qualifying as a “divisive concept” has proven me correct.
Without getting too far into the weeds, a sorely needed in-depth AP African American Studies program teaching the history of Black people in America was being piloted in 33 schools in Georgia last year. The idea was to prove its value and then expand it statewide via state funding, as is commonly done with their pilot courses.
However, per a mid-July statement released by his spokeswoman, Woods “opted not to recommend this course for state approval at this time.” The practical effect of this action was to remove state funding from a course that was already being offered in these schools. The entire cost would be dumped onto already hard-pressed county and city school districts, effectively killing the course.
But it is an election year. The GOP knows that Georgia is a key state and every vote counts.
So Gov. Brian Kemp publicly questioned Woods’ decision, which led the superintendent to acknowledge that he felt the course violated the divisive concepts prohibitions, especially the topic of the intersectionality of race and gender in experiences of bias. In yet another statement to clarify his previous unintelligible position, Woods stated the course did not include “comparative narrative with opposing views on this and other topics” and thus teaching the course was illegal.
Unfortunately for Woods, as well as the residents of Georgia, his supposed clarification did nothing to resolve the question of why he did not approve the course and will it get state reimbursement. And how do you construct a “comparative narrative”?
Is the course supposed to say that slavery benefited Black slaves because it gave them skills? That laughable malarkey has been stated before by at least one Southern politician, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. And no one bought it then, either.
So, running for cover, Woods then dumped the matter into the legal system, saying that he “asked for legal clarification (from conservative GOP Attorney General Chris Carr)” and “should the ruling reverse my decision, then I will follow the law.”
Well, that was a true relief for all of us, Superintendent Woods.
Apparently, Carr is a lot more politically savvy and better organized than Woods. Carr responded confidentially to Woods but also to the author of the divisive concepts law. Carr told Rep. Will Wade of Dawsonville, a Kemp ally, that the course could be funded so long as it complied with the law.
We do not know what Carr stated to Woods. The state school superintendent is still vague. But he will now permit the course to be offered in the state course list, which apparently means that the state will fund it, maybe. What a totally avoidable mess.
Woods was once a high school teacher before he became a politician, elected to statewide office. We would all be better off if he went back to the classroom.
Jack Bernard, a retired business executive and former chair of the Jasper County Commission and Republican Party, was the first director of health planning for Georgia.
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