On the front lines of the culture war over Black history

WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR EMMITT GLYNN TO TEACH the lesson on the Black Panthers in his AP African American Studies class, he says he was overcome with "fear" walking into his classroom at Baton Rouge Magnet High School on Feb. 17-fear that what happened in the room would be misconstrued by the outside world. The school has been fielding so many media requests about Glynn's class that administrators set up a day for the press to come see the curriculum in action.

- OLIVIA B. WAXMAN

The Louisiana school is one of 60 nationwide pilot-testing the College Board's newest Advanced Placement course, designed to offer college-level instruction to high school students. The element in the AP African American Studies lesson on civil rights history that had Glynn worried was the Black Panthers' 10-Point Program. Required reading for the course, the 1966 document demanded equal opportunities for housing, the end of police brutality, and the release of Black people from jails because they didn't get fair and impartial trials.