The racist makeover in far-right Gov. Ron "Bootsie" DeSantis' Florida public schools continues. From the Florida Phoenix:
"Students at Florida public schools will now learn that Black people benefitted from slavery because it taught them skills. This change is part of the African American history standards the State Board of Education approved at a Wednesday meeting.
The description of slavery as beneficial is not the only grievance parents, teachers, education advocates and politicians had with the new standards. People speaking at the Wednesday meeting generally called out the diluting and omissions of history. For example, instruction at the elementary school level is largely limited to identifying famous Black people, and high school teachers will talk about the “acts of violence perpetrated by African Americans” at the 1920 Ocoee Massacre, in which a white mob killed at least 30 Black people.
'Please table this rule and revise it to make sure that my history our history is being told factually and completely, and please do not, for the love of God, tell kids that slavery was beneficial because I guarantee you it most certainly was not,' said Kevin Parker, a community member." (our emphasis)
DeSantis, in a craven effort to appeal to the white supremacist base of the Republican / New Confederate / Forced Birth party, has been seeking to depict slavery and its aftermath as benign parts of U.S. history. He pushed a state law that prohibited teachers from offering lessons that made white students feel guilt over the past history of slavery, etc. DeSantis has rebuffed any attempts to correct the historical record in textbooks and curricula, including the College Board's AP African American History pilot course.
BONUS: DeSantis went after a Florida college, and now their faculty is leaving.
(photo: Joe Cavaretta / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
