DeSantis - Ignorance By Law

The Florida governor and presumptive presidential candidate continues his crusade to whitewash history.

Right-wing Florida governor and likely 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is continuing to burnish his reactionary credentials by barring the teaching of Black History.

An Advanced Placement African American history class is being implemented across the country by the US College Board. The course is comprehensive and covers 400 years of Black History through literature, political science, and geographical topics.

But according to a DeSantis spokesperson, the course

"Leaves large, ambiguous gaps that can be filled with additional ideological material, which we will not allow.”

And

"Lacks educational value and is contrary to Florida law."

The spokesperson’s only conciliatory remarks:

"If the College Board amends the course to comply, provides a full course curriculum, and incorporates historically accurate content, then the Department will reconsider the course for approval.”

A totally reputable entity attempts to institute a Black History course, but it doesn’t pass muster with DeSantis and the state of Florida.

The same state that has been railing against “woke” education.

The state that has enacted laws that will wreak havoc on college and universities maintaining proper accreditation.

Imagine this scenario spreading to your state.

If left up to DeSantis, the only “Black History” that is acceptable is one that minimizes the impact of slavery, literally whitewashes Jim Crow and segregation, and totally omits significant Black Americans whose lives and actions don’t line up with a sanitized, distorted Eurocentric worldview.

To DeSantis and his followers, the past, present, and future is White.

History is not a collection of events that we wished happened, or that neatly line up with our political leanings.

History is not malleable.

History is not solicitous of a majority.

History is what it is, was, and will be.

No matter how much he tries to change or conceal the truth, Ron DeSantis can’t change history.

And if American voters are smart, they won’t let him do to our country what he’s trying to do to Florida.