Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, denounced Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for the decision to do away with an Advanced Placement high school course on African American studies.
Pritzker's comments came in a Wednesday letter in which he urged the nonprofit College Board not to follow Florida's decision. Pritzker also called DeSantis an "extremist."
The College Board, which designs and manages AP courses in the United States, said it will release the course's "official framework" on Wednesday, the first day of Black History Month.
In Pritzker's letter, posted online by Politico, he wrote: "I am writing to you today to urge the College Board to preserve the fundamental right to an education that does not follow the political grandstanding of Governor DeSantis and the whims of Republicans in Florida.
"I am extremely troubled by recent news reports that claim Governor DeSantis is pressuring the College Board to change the AP African American Studies course in order to fit Florida's racist and homophobic laws.
"Illinois expects any AP course offered on African American Studies to include a factual accounting of history, including the role played by black queer Americans. Illinois will closely examine the official coursework to ensure it includes all necessary history, starting with this nation's foundation built on slavery, the Civil War where this nation reckoned with that history and the decades of rebuilding and efforts of black Americans to continue their fight for equality and equity to this day.
"Regardless of some leaders' efforts, ignoring and censoring the accurate reporting of history will not change the realities of the country in which we live. In Illinois, we will not accept this watering down of history. I urge you to maintain your reputation as an academic institution dedicated to the advancement of students and refuse to bow to political pressure that would ask you to rewrite our nation's true, if sometimes unpleasant, history.
"One governor should not have the power to dictate the facts of U.S. history. In Illinois, we reject any curriculum modifications designed to appease extremists like the Florida governor and his allies."
The Chicago Sun-Times noted that Pritzker has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Democrat nomination for president in 2024. DeSantis has been widely talked about as a candidate for the Republican nomination.