Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Board of Education are taking fire for the new African American history curriculum for Florida public schools. The Escambia Democratic Party repudiates the new curriculum that was unanimously adopted by the Florida Board of Education last week.
Why this matters: The Democrats dispute the attempt to put a rosy picture on slavery by inserting in the courses that slaves benefit from it.
Ultimately, the “skills” that Governor DeSantis and the Florida Board of Education touts were innate to those enslaved. It cannot be disputed that Africans taught and advanced the knowledge of Europeans in areas of math, science, personal hygiene and grooming…. skills necessary for survival and the advancement of civilization. Black Americans are the descendants of Kings & Queens! Descendants of a people who built the Great Pyramids; something that Europeans have yet to be able to reverse engineer. Black culture, music, food and lifestyle have been the subject of appropriation for centuries. Combined with the immutable fact that this great nation was built upon the backs of the enslaved, you must ask yourselves, who truly were the beneficiaries of enslavement?
Florida students deserve to learn the honest history of African-Americans in Florida and the United States. They deserve an education that accurately teaches them about the past while preparing them for the world and avoiding mistakes of the past.
Dig Deeper:
Statement on the Florida Board of Education African American History Curriculum Decision
The Escambia Democratic Party repudiates the new African-American History Curriculum under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis and unanimously adopted by the Florida Board of Education. This decision comes in the wake of Florida’s unjust and unprecedented attack on true and accurate reflection and teaching of African-American History.
The Transatlantic Slave trade lasted 366 years, beginning in 1470, and moved more than 12.5 million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean. It was the largest forced migration in human history. The abhorrent loss of life seen during this time, followed by the enslavement of African people who experienced rape, torture, the dismantling of families and forced labor to solely enrich European Colonizers.
Kamala Harris, Vice-President of the United States, passionately asked an audience in Jacksonville, Florida “How is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization?”
The fact that the Florida Board of Education attempted to justify their decision to lie to generations of children to be educated in the State of Florida by citing sixteen (16) enslaved black Americans, six (6) of which who weren’t enslaved is a great example and indictment of the ignorance that embodied this decision and amplifies the importance of the need to teach and reflect ACCURATE African-American History.
Additionally, the new standards seem to grasp at teaching “both sides” of history, by highlighting “violence perpetrated against African-Americans” during race massacres of the early 20th century, such as the Tulsa Race Massacre, as well as the false narrative of violence by African-Americans. In that massacre, white rioters destroyed a prosperous Black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and as many as 300 people were killed. We can also point to the destruction of the thriving community of Rosewood, here in Florida, at the hands of white rioters.
For DeSantis or anyone in Education to suggest Black people were, directly or indirectly, responsible for the massive annihilation, slaughter and massacres that occurred to Black People and Townships across Florida and the rest of the nation is deplorable.
Ultimately, the “skills” that Governor DeSantis and the Florida Board of Education touts were innate to those enslaved. It cannot be disputed that Africans taught and advanced the knowledge of Europeans in areas of math, science, personal hygiene and grooming…. skills necessary for survival and the advancement of civilization. Black Americans are the descendants of Kings & Queens! Descendants of a people who built the Great Pyramids; something that Europeans have yet to be able to reverse engineer. Black culture, music, food and lifestyle have been the subject of appropriation for centuries. Combined with the immutable fact that this great nation was built upon the backs of the enslaved, you must ask yourselves, who truly were the beneficiaries of enslavement?
Florida students deserve to learn the honest history of African-Americans in Florida and the United States. They deserve an education that accurately teaches them about the past while preparing them for the world and avoiding mistakes of the past.
Photo credit: James Kirkikis/Shutterstock.com