Intersectional blackness matters: Why family science should care about the College Board's A.P. African American Studies course controversy

Abstract

This article examines how the recent controversy about the College Board's A.P. African American Studies course has implications for studies on Black families. In relegating Black feminism and Black queer theory as optional research topics in the course, the College Board failed to recognize the importance of theorizing intersectional blackness in research in Black Studies in general and research on Black families in particular. The College Board failed to recognize how race, gender, sexuality, and other social forces converge to provide a richer picture of Black lives. In utilizing a theoretical lens of intersectional blackness as a foundation, I use both the Florida Board of Education's position regarding the “merits” of the A.P. course and the College Board's decision to fringe certain topics as examples of how both Black families and Black Studies are maligned by framing both as inferior and lacking.