Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin faces criticism over his decision to review and possibly ban the new Advanced Placement African American Studies course for high school students.

The Washington Post reported Feb. 18 that Virginia and at least three other states – Arkansas, North Dakota and Mississippi – are reviewing the College Board’s proposed AP course for conflicts with state education policies or laws restricting how race is discussed in classrooms.

This comes after Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis banned the course in his state because he said the College Board’s earlier version lacks educational value and violates state laws.

"After numerous reports about draft course content, the governor asked the Education Secretariat to review the College Board’s proposed AP African American Studies course as it pertains to Executive Order 1," Youngkin's spokesperson Macaulay Porter said, according to WUSA.

Youngkin’s executive order bans critical race theory (CRT) in K-12 Virginia schools, which has never been taught in classrooms.

CRT is a college-level academic framework to analyze systemic racism that is not taught at elementary or secondary schools. But the term “critical race theory” has been co-opted by conservatives as a catch-all phrase to silence discussion about systemic racism and to whitewash America's history of racism.

Virginia NAACP President Robert Barnette condemned Youngkin’s call for a review of the AP course and said the organization would consider a possible lawsuit if officials decided that it conflicts with Executive Order 1, WVEC reported.

“On Black History Month, Virginia’s Governor is targeting AP African American Studies all in a pathetic attempt to keep up with Ron DeSantis,” Arlington Democrats tweeted.

The drama over AP African American Studies began Jan. 12 when the Florida Department of Education sent a letter to the College Board saying that the course content "is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value."

Under the leadership of DeSantis, who has his eyes on a possible 2024 White House run, the Republican-dominated state legislature passed a measure dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act'' that the governor signed into law last April. It restricts how race is discussed in public schools, colleges and workplaces.

Speaking at a Jan. 23 press conference, DeSantis claimed that some of the course material includes CRT and has an agenda to indoctrinate students, pointing to topics on Black LGBTQ studies, reparations, mass incarceration and the Movement for Black Lives.

According to the College Board, the curriculum touches on literature, arts, humanities, political science, geography and science. The course has been under development for more than a decade in collaboration with colleges, universities and secondary schools. It is being piloted at 60 high schools across the country this year and will be available in all classrooms across the country in the next two years.

Nevertheless, the College Board agreed to revise the course for Florida classrooms. But in a statement, the organization criticized Florida’s reaction to the course and admitted that it made mistakes in how it rolled out the course.

“There is always debate about the content of a new AP course. That is good and healthy; these courses matter. But the dialogue surrounding AP African American Studies has moved from healthy debate to misinformation,” the statement read. “We are proud of this course. But we have made mistakes in the rollout that are being exploited.”

“We deeply regret not immediately denouncing the Florida Department of Education’s slander, magnified by the DeSantis administration’s subsequent comments, that African American Studies ‘lacks educational value.’ Our failure to raise our voice betrayed Black scholars everywhere and those who have long toiled to build this remarkable field.”

Nationwide, at least 44 states have started debating whether to introduce bills that would limit what schools can teach about race, American history, gender identity and sexual orientation. This threatens to water down Black history courses.