A student at Florida’s largest HBCU said the university attempted to take the ‘Black’ out of a student group’s Black History Month activities. The advertising restriction appears to be part of a larger effort by Florida to censor diversity, a policy that has now been replicated on the national level under the Trump administration.
Ban on using ‘Black’ and other terms for Black History Month advertisement
Florida A&M University student Aaliyah Steward, who is in her last year at the school’s College of Law, said the school required her to censor promotional material that the Black Law Students Association was using to advertise its Black History Month activities. Notably, Steward said, “We couldn’t use the word ‘Black’ in Black History Month. We need to abbreviate it.” Steward also said the university objected to other terms, including “affirmative action” and “women.” The university did not deny Steward’s claim, saying in a statement, “Florida A&M University has consistently been in full compliance with Senate Bill 266 and Board of Governors’ Regulation 9.016.” The university stated, “We support and have implemented the policy direction established by the Governor, the Legislature, and the Board of Governors as it relates to DEI, and consistent with related federal court rulings.”
Censoring discussion of Blackness at an HBCU
“I was very angry and baffled because this is a Historically Black College and University, and for them to say we can’t use the word ‘Black’ was kind of insane,” Steward told News 6 Orlando. The university maintained in its statement that it “is committed to fostering a campus community that encourages the free exchange of ideas while ensuring an environment of mutual respect, safety, and awareness.” FAMU claimed that “the University recognizes that freedom of expression is fundamental to academic inquiry, personal development, and civic engagement.” Steward described a very different experience. “I just don’t want us to be censored this way. Not being able to use the word ‘Black’ is very frustrating,” she said.
Florida Republicans’ anti-‘woke’ restrictions on diversity
The censorship being conducted by FAMU is a manifestation of the anti-DEI policies put in place in Florida under the leadership of conservative Gov. Ron DeSantis. In 2023, the governor made defunding diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Florida universities a key part of his campaign against so-called “woke” ideologies. The policies put in place by DeSantis and the Republican-controlled legislature created an atmosphere that led the NAACP to issue a 2023 travel advisory warning Black people not to visit the state. Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, he has been implementing a set of anti-diversity policies at the national level that have strictly interpreted the Supreme Court’s anti-affirmative action ruling; under Trump administration guidelines, any race-conscious programming on college campuses could be viewed as illegal.
Florida’s anti-diversity policies laid the groundwork for other states like Texas to adopt restrictive policies toward their schools, and Florida’s policies also served as a precursor to restrictions being implemented at a national level. Now, the state’s restrictions have apparently created an absurd situation in which students are being restricted from publicly advertising the “Black” aspect of Black History Month.