Recently, talks of removing Advanced Placement (AP) European History, an AP course and a history course offered, have been circulating. I believe that AP European History shouldn’t be removed from the curriculum. 

AP European History is a class that assisted in my growth as a student. The course allowed me to hone imperative skills learned in previous courses, like time management and specific study habits. 

The course also follows the school’s mission statement, as, throughout the course, students are reminded of the wrongdoings that minority groups faced throughout history. Speaking from my experiences as a person of color, the course doesn’t turn a blind eye to these mistakes and ensures students are racially conscious and understand the impact colonization had on the entire world.

During the course, I learned a lot about the history of Europe and how it connects to the rest of the world. Although the actions taken by groups like the conquistadors were undeniably wrong, it is still important to learn what events took place to improve future generations. Nonetheless, I learned a lot about European history and now have a good base from which I can reference from.

Despite the media attention concerning the course’s heavily eurocentric-based topics, it is a given that the courses will be heavily based on European history, hence the name. Concerning difficult topics like colonization and genocide, history is history, and although we can’t change what happened, we can always learn from our mistakes to create a better future.

To combat the eurocentrism issue, there are other AP classes, like AP World History, that provide a more broad range of information from different areas of the world. For students who genuinely enjoy European history, they shouldn’t be barred from the course. Also, the course isn’t mandatory, and is only one of a variety of courses that students can choose from.

The course also covers a large amount of recent history that is integral in understanding the current political climate of the world. Events like the World Wars and the Cold War to name a few.

AP European History has been a class that I enjoyed, and future students shouldn’t be prohibited from participating.