For a long while now, we know that Republicans in various Red states have been passing state laws to hide the teaching of black history, slavery and racism. It’s a pretty repugnant, racist and fascist thing to do – trying to wipe out the history of people, especially a minority that’s been abused for 250 years, hoping to paint over it as if it didn’t happen. But the laws have largely been generic. It wasn’t until Wednesday when Florida’s Board of Education (sic) – made up entirely of members handpicked by Gov. Ron DeSantis – approved its new “standards” (sic) with “anti-woke” specifics that the lunacy and hatred and White Supremacy really stand out.
At least we got a new slogan out of it – “Florida: Where Education Goes to Die.” There are a great many details that can be pointed to, but it’s best to just point to one that leaps out so brightly you don’t need a klieg light. A new teaching “standard” so profoundly low that’s buried underground. And any education “standard” that include such a requirement gives away any right to be accepted as legitimate in any world other than Hell. It’s that when Florida public schools now teach about slavery, they must include lessons on “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” This is like requiring teaching how beneficial nuclear Armageddon is because people learn skills like self-reliance and how to roast meat by holding it in your radioactive hands. It’s like teaching the benefit of the Nazi Holocaust for Jews because they learned the joy of train travel and how to live in peace with others in close quarters. It’s as if you had to teach the benefits of massacring the American Indians by pointing out…no, sorry, I don’t want to give Florida any ideas. Especially since they have history with the Seminole, Osceola, Apalachee Indians and other tribes. By the way, lest you assume that the Florida Board of Education (sic) means that things like chopping wood, doing laundry and building roads for no play are among those benefits that Black people learned in slavery, I would hedge my bets. This is the Florida Board of Education (sic), after all, so if they can consider that the “benefits” of slavery should be taught, then it’s anyone’s guess what on earth they think are, in fact, “benefits.” For all we know, to the DeSantis-led Florida Board of Education (sic), the “benefits” of slavery for Black people are that they developed their skills of dancing and smiling through adversity, including whipping, being raped and having your families split apart. There were more “standards” that the DeSantis Board of Education (sic) set which are reprehensible, not just through their racism, but also for how ignorant Florida children will be for not being taught actual history. After all, just because you don’t teach something doesn’t mean it stops existing – and that others aren’t being taught it. Which they are. So, when Florida children grow up and enter the world – either moving out of state, perhaps to get jobs, or remaining in Florida and dealing with others who actually have been educated and moved into the state – they are starting out at a massive disadvantage. A massive disadvantage referred to as being literally ignorant of reality. And we haven’t even gotten into other of these “standards” (sic) like when teaching slavery and violence throughout history against Black people such as lynchings and the Tulsa Massacre and the Edmund Pettus Bridge “Brutal Sunday” beatings, and Sheriff Clark’s attack dogs in Selma, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Black church bombings and much more over the past 250 years, Florida schools now must have lessons that explain, oh, by the way, there has also been violence perpetrated by African Americans. Because, apparently, in Florida now, it’s all the same and evens things out, and who knows, maybe they even deserved it for the past quarter of a millennia. No, teaching “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit” is enough, and we’ll leave it at that. More than enough. This is so sloppy horrible that the Florida school system now sounds like an episode of the TV series, Drunk History. That's the show where the hosts get actually drunk and then try to explain history. Welcome to Florida. The thing is, too, even putting aside of racist, hate-filled and ignorant this all is – it’s almost mind-numbing that Florida and Red states are doing this and things like this in an election cycle. Because even if it’s “only” in Florida or some Red state (where it seems reasonable to think this will be tried, as well), it shows the national public that This is Who Republicans Are and What They Want for America. Especially if there’s no push-back from other Republicans outraged by this purely racist policy elsewhere. Which there isn’t. So, during an election cycle, when Republicans control the House of Representatives and many state legislatures, and can show the voting public who they are and what they stand for – they’re passing school “standards” (sic) that requires teaching “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” Which everyone outside of Florida actually have long-since learned, been literally taught is insane. And hardly the sort of education most people not virulently racist want for their children. In fact, it’s likely that at least some, if not many of those who are virulently racist still want their children to learn reality. There’s a song in the musical South Pacific called “You’ve Got to Be Taught,” about how children are not naturally racist but need to be taught to be. It’s fascinating to see the state of Florida try a revolutionary new tactic to reach the same goal, but not even teach them.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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