Spring semester at FSU has started off with yet another attack on education. The Florida Board of Governors, which makes decisions for Florida public universities, recently removed the course “Principles of Sociology” from counting as a social sciences general education requirement. While the class remains on the course catalog, this move will disincentivize students from taking sociology and possibly downsize the department.
On Jan. 24, the Board of Governors was scheduled to vote on the state of this introductory sociology class as well as on prohibiting funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the ballroom of FSU’s student union. Outside the student union, several student organizations rallied to protect the sociology class and DEI. Inside the meeting room, Florida State House representative Anna Eskamani as well as every professor, student, and alumni who spoke during the cut-short public comment expressed their opposition to the proposed changes. Still, the next day, all over state and national news sites read headlines about Florida cutting sociology as a core education course.
The Florida Board of Governors being able to change the courses that fulfill general education requirements is one of their new powers from 2023’s Senate Bill 266/House Bill 999, the same piece of legislation that seeks to eliminate funding for DEI initiatives on campus as well as certain classes focusing on race, gender, and sexuality. The amendment to remove sociology from counting as an undergraduate social science requirement was proposed by Florida Board of Governors Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, who was appointed by Governor DeSantis. While Diaz provided no explanation when he initially proposed this change in November 2023, he posted on X a month later his reasoning being that “sociology has been hijacked by left-wing activists.”
Accompanying the removal of introductory sociology as a social science general education requirement, the Board of Governors has added a new “factual history course” that “teaches students a historically accurate account of America’s founding, the horrors of slavery, the resulting Civil War, and the Reconstruction era.” Recent restrictions on Florida education often use the rhetoric of pursuing “truth,” “objectivity,” and “historical accuracy” as opposed to the supposedly subjective and emotionally charged theories of academic disciplines like sociology.
Even so, Governor DeSantis’s website explicitly states his agenda for SB266/HB999 to prohibit education involving “theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States.” It’s disingenuous to frame the undermining of sociology as advocating for history education when most of these same people, often led by DeSantis, voted against AP African American History being taught in high school and college courses focused on African American, LGBTQ+, and women’s history.
There is a whole subfield of history known as historiography, which is essentially the history of history. I’m sure you have heard the phrase “history is written by the victors.” For much of America’s past, the narrative of American history did not include the experiences of marginalized and oppressed peoples. Newer history scholarship, which incorporates the perspectives and experiences of these groups, is often accused of being subjective, ideologically driven, and divisive for diverging from a heroic version of the American story.
In Diaz’s explanation of the decision to replace Principles of Sociology with a new American history course, he said, “The aim is to provide students with an accurate and factual account of the nation’s past rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies.” This rhetoric of championing a single “factual” account of history independent of any interpretation creates a false distinction between history and sociology. History of course needs to be grounded in robust evidence, but because of the vast number of people alive at any given time, there will always be many different perspectives and interpretations of historical events. In actuality, restricting American history education from including its diversity of experiences and stories is ignoring the beloved “facts” of thousands, millions of Americans’ lives.
On the other hand, much of sociology is not theory but grounded in empirical research. However, the data and conclusions drawn from the sociology discipline about larger social determinants, often originating in historical events and injustices, of peoples’ circumstances rather than solely moral character and work ethic can contradict some political beliefs and worldviews. I question if certain Florida politicians are really focusing on “the facts.”
The critical, empirical study of society and its structures, including the dynamics of race, gender, class, and other identities, is important to learn how to best serve society. It provides practical knowledge that can be applied to students’ careers in healthcare, social work, urban planning, law, and education, just to name a few. The framing of the opposing “theories” of sociology and the “facts” of history is a justification that ignores the reality of these two disciplines. Here, an accusation is a confession that this false narrative is what ignores sound reason and evidence for political gain.
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