First, the State of Florida told everyone “Don’t Say ‘Gay.'” Now, it’s telling residents not to learn African American history!
Top News Today :
In a move that’s being referred to as a heaping helping of red meat for right-wing Republicans prior to his expected announcement of a 2024 presidential bid, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is on a roll. He’s already banned Florida’s public high schools from teaching any subject related to sexual orientation or gender identity (dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill). His anti-woke rhetoric against the Black community and, in particular, a state prosecutor DeSantis branded too ‘woke’ to serve has prompted a federal judge to condemn him for violating the prosecutor’s right to free speech. Now, DeSantis is under rapid fire for banning an advanced course in African American history because he believes it “lacks educational value and historical accuracy.”
The advanced placement African American History course was developed over the last decade and designed to be a multidisciplinary study of the African American diaspora including literature, the arts, science, politics, and geography. However, the Florida Department of Education banned the advanced placement course because it says it teaches students about activism and intersectionality and encourages “ending the war on Black trans, queer, gender non-conforming, and intersex people” — a war the DeSantis administration is hell-bent on continuing.
Gov. DeSantis took issue with the fact the African American History course mentioned the Black Power Movement and the Black Panther Party of the 1960s — both of which are prominent parts of Black History. He objected to the inclusion of writings by Robin D.G. Kelley, a professor of American history at UCLA who DeSantis believes promotes critical race theory and Black communism. Then, in an updated version of the state’s concerns, the governor removed objections to the Black Panther Party and replaced them with an objection to the study of “Black Queer Studies.”
Clearly, Ron DeSantis has some deep-rooted issues against Black people and Gay people. Now, he’s facing the court of public opinion for his seemingly racist and homophobic positions.
“Florida is doing its best to tilt the scales and shut down important, much-needed discussions of race, slavery, stolen lands, and undeniable history that have led to where we are as a society today,” Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones (D), the state’s first openly gay senator, said Thursday in a statement. “Gov. DeSantis’ whitewashing of history and book bans are his latest assault on American history and our First Amendment rights. Horrifyingly, it is our vulnerable and underrepresented students who will suffer the most as a result.”
“Ron DeSantis’ flippant dismissal of an AP African American Studies course is not only a dereliction of his duty to ensure equitable education for all Floridians, but shows clear disdain for the lives and experiences that form part of our national history,” Ivory Toldson, the NAACP Director of Education, Innovation, and Research said in a statement. “Dismissing this important subject as lacking ‘educational value’ defies centuries of evidence to the contrary. African American history is American history and failure to comprehend this very simple fact is un-American in and of itself.”
On Friday, President Biden called Florida’s ban on teaching advanced placement African American history “incomprehensible.” His words follow a statement from early last year when the president criticized DeSantis for his stance against the teaching and discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation.
However, DeSantis is standing his ground.
After signing the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act into law (also known as the Stop WOKE Act), DeSantis says he is merely “taking a stand against the state-sanctioned racism that is critical race theory” while protecting Florida children from learning about gender and more.
SHOCKING: Ron DeSantis has BANNED the teaching of AP African American Studies in Florida.
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) January 19, 2023
Florida has gone from Don’t Say Gay to Don’t Say Black.
Still, others disagree.
“Our history has long been treated as illegitimate,” said Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of The New York Times’s 1619 Project. “It has always been contested.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PETITION, CLICK HERE.
OK WASSUP! discusses the Top News Today:
Florida bans African American History course.
The Daily Beast: The Florida Department of Education says it banned AP African American History because it teaches students about activism, intersectionality and encourages “ending the war on Black trans, queer, gender non-conforming, and intersex people,” according to a document the department sent to The Daily Beast. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rejected a request from the College Board to provide the class in high school classes in the state Wednesday. The move comes in the same week the far-right Republican—who a judge just ruled violated free speech laws by firing a prosecutor for being “woke”—requested info on trans students from universities state-wide. DeSantis’ administration further made their anti-LGBTQ stance known in their explanation for prohibiting the class, simply listing “Black Queer Studies” as a violation of state law. A representative for DeSantis said the now-banned class “lacks educational value and historical accuracy” in a statement to The Daily Beast. The… Read more »