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Hundreds of Floridians, civil rights activists and religious leaders from across the state marched Wednesday from Tallahassee鈥檚 Bethel Missionary Baptist Church to the Florida Capitol building complex in protest of efforts to 鈥渨hitewash鈥� Black history by rejecting an Advanced Placement course in high school on African American studies.

The large crowd also included students and older folks and many Black activists and advocates 鈥� including civil rights leader Al Sharpton 鈥� who rallied against the DeSantis administration over what students can learn in school regarding Black history and other topics.

At the historic church, Ben Frazier, with the advocacy group Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, said that the DeSantis administration is attacking the rights to tell the truth about slavery, racism and white supremacy.

鈥淔olks, the policies and the practices of this racist DeSantis regime, are in fact a vile and poisonous form of indoctrination. Simple and sweet: it鈥檚 political propaganda. I call it 鈥榟ogwash,’鈥� Frazier told the crowd gathered inside the church. The pews were nearly filled.

鈥淏y his efforts to whitewash American history, this governor is trying to turn back the sands of time,鈥� Frazier added. He led the crowd in a chant: 鈥淎llow teachers to teach the truth.鈥�

The crowd later left the church to start the march to the Florida Capitol building. There were signs and chants along the road, which led up to the Florida Senate side of the complex outside.

Metaphorically addressing Gov. DeSantis, Bishop Rudolph W. McKissack Jr., a senior pastor of the Bethel Church in Jacksonville, said that:

鈥淲e are not saying you don鈥檛 want Black history, but what we鈥檙e saying is we won鈥檛 let you have it your way. We will not let you tell our story from your perspective.

鈥淲e will not let you redact our history so that your children are comfortable. The reality is your children, and other generations can be comfortable now, because our ancestors were uncomfortable,鈥� McKissack continued.

The rally gathered largely in response to an ongoing battle between the DeSantis administration and the century-old nonprofit College Board, which created a new AP African American studies course for high schoolers who can earn college credit.

The Florida Department of Education rejected the then-pilot course, according to a letter sent to the College Board in mid-January, causing a nationwide outcry and concerns that the move diminishes the importance of Black history and Black culture.

But the scope of the march and rally Wednesday spanned far beyond the AP African American studies course. The comments from faith leaders and Florida lawmakers touched on policies impacting the LGBTQ+ community, women, and immigrants.

The Rev. Al Sharpton spoke to the potential of Gov. Ron DeSantis running for president. Sharpton called DeSantis 鈥渂aby Trump.鈥�

鈥淏lack, Latino, women, LGBTQ 鈥� we beat Big Trump. We鈥檒l beat Baby Trump,鈥� he said.

鈥淎fter Disney one day, after Blacks the next day 鈥� he鈥檚 like a baby,鈥� Sharpton said. 鈥淕ive him a pacifier and let some grown folks run the state of Florida.鈥�

After his dig at DeSantis, Sharpton brought it back to teaching Black history to young Floridians.

鈥淵ou ought to tell the whole story鈥� Our children need to know the whole story. Not to know how bad you were, but how strong they are. We come from a people who fought from the back of a bus to the front of the White House. Tell the whole story,鈥� Sharpton said.

He warned: 鈥淚f we can鈥檛 protect education in Florida, it will jump to Alabama, it will jump to Texas 鈥� this is a national crime.鈥�

Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat who represents part of Miami-Dade County, said Wednesday, also spoke to teaching history centered around minority communities.

鈥淏lack history is American history. Queer history is American History. Black immigrant history is American history,鈥� Jones said.

He added: 鈥淲hat we are dealing with here in this moment 鈥� the structure of a system that continues to perpetuate racism across this country, not just in the state of Florida,鈥� Jones said at the Capitol. 鈥淭he fight is never just about AP history. The fight is against this strong uprising of racism from people who are seeing the shifting of America.鈥�

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