Democrats like to beat Florida like a pinata when they think they can use it to their political advantage.
Earlier this week, liberals whipped themselves up into a frenzy over Florida’s new standards for how Black history will be taught in the state. Specifically, they zeroed in on one section that states enslaved people learned skills that benefited them later on in life.
There is just one problem for the Democrats and other critics: the Advanced Placement (AP) African American studies class rejected by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) taught the same message.
In Unit 2 of the class, there is a section that states, “In addition to agricultural work, enslaved people learned specialized trades and worked as painters, carpenters, tailors, musicians, and healers in the North and the South. Once free, African Americans used these skills to provide for themselves and others.”
The AP African American Studies course that the entire establishment media wanted Florida to adopt says the exact same thing the new Florida standards say. https://t.co/sZcnOKhkVx pic.twitter.com/vGOGbdwSgJ
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) July 27, 2023
That sounds a lot like saying slaves learned skills they later benefited from.
Several months ago that detail in the class was overlooked when liberals accused DeSantis of trying to “erase Black history” by blocking the class.
Back then, the portion about slaves learning skills was not an issue. Instead, they apparently were mad that students would not be learning about Black queer studies.
But now, ignoring the rest of the curriculum, the critics are focusing on the one portion about slaves learning skills they used for their benefit later in life.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in Jacksonville, Florida, to rail against the new standards and accuse the state of misleading children.
“They want to replace history with lies,” Harris proclaimed.
She continued, “These extremist, so-called leaders should model what we know to be the correct and right approach if we really are invested in the well-being of our children. Instead, they dare to push propaganda to our children.”
“This is the United States of America. We’re not supposed to do that,” Harris declared.
She asked, “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?”
Even some 2024 Republican presidential candidates got in on the action of whipping the state and its governor. DeSantis has insisted he was not involved in the drafting of the curriculum but has defended it.
It is fair to critique this section of the curriculum. Even if there were enslaved people who upon being freed utilized the knowledge they learned from their time of exploitation and subjugation for their benefit, is that something schoolchildren with impressionable minds need to know?
It just seems like a boneheaded line that risks downplaying or appearing to downplay the horrors of slavery for information that you might find in a footnote.
But either way, there should be one standard for a curriculum. And if we’re going by liberals’ standards today — that one line can define the rest of a curriculum — then DeSantis is “woke” and an anti-racist for rejecting the African American studies class earlier this year.
