We could write volumes on the lunacy coming out of Florida under the watchful eye of DeSantis….and now they have gone that proverbial one step further….this time in education.
I am a proponent of teaching history as it is….that means no whitewashing the embarrassing bits….teach it like it is.
We know that these Reds States, like my own, are hell bent on turning back the pages of history and throwing white paint (no pun intended) on the whole institution of slavery and Florida is one of the first to put a ‘happy face’ on the ordeal.
Florida education officials have changed state standards, in keeping with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ policies, to mandate teaching public school students that some Black people benefited from being enslaved because they learned useful skills. The state Board of Education immediately defended the policy, unanimously approved Wednesday, by saying lessons will still include the “darkest” parts of the nation’s past, Politico reports. “It’s the good, the bad and the ugly in American history,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said. State officials denied that students will be taught that “slavery was beneficial”; the policy calls for instruction in “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
The 216-page social studies policy requires attributing racial violence partly to Black people, saying, “Instruction includes acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans but is not limited to 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, 1919 Washington, D.C. Race Riot, 1920 Ocoee Massacre, 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the 1923 Rosewood Massacre.” The statewide teachers union called the policy “a big step backward,” per NBC News. “How can our students ever be equipped for the future if they don’t have a full, honest picture of where we’ve come from?” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association.
This is a lie!
We can pretend all we want but this is just pure manure spread to make the whole institution appear to be something positive….ranks up there with slaves got room and board….
Anyone with half a brain will see through this….but sadly children may not and will then go along thinking that slavery was ‘not all that ‘bad’ after all.
How long before other Red States start teaching this lie and adding to the whitewash?
Thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
They learned to pick cotton or drops, and be whipped, raped, and abused. There is no depth low enough that these ‘justifying’ people will not sink below. Disgusting!
Best wishes, Pete.
*Crops* Typo.
LOL……not to worry I got the jest. chuq
I totally agree….this shows just how deep racism is in the South even today. chuq
This ranks right up there with the right wing lie that slaves were better off coming to America because they enjoyed low cost housing, decent clothing, plentiful food, plenty of good, healthful outdoor work, freedom of worship, the many benefits of working for Christian employers who had their best interests at heart ..It is a blatant attempt to make evil into good and good into evil…so that the Republicans can point to the righteousness of their causes and get away with calling all Liberals evil … which is what they do …They want to pervert the entire culture, to mindwash whole generations of kids to think like they do so that they can consolidate and perpetuate autocratic, white supremacist popular nationalism in the skeleton of the United States for all time yet to come. I call it the beginning of the Right-Wing Reich.
A good label….and very accurate chuq
Reblogged this on Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News.
I appreciate the reblog Ned….thanx chuq
https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2023/07/21/florida-history-lesson-slavery-an-unpaid-internship-editorial/ Abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass did not smile in his portraits. There is a reason why: the nature of slavery itself. To understand, look at this famous photo of a former slave showing the scars on his back from being whipped. That picture was taken in 1863 after he had escaped to become a Union soldier during the Civil War. Florida history lesson: Slavery as an unpaid internship? | Editorial
Here is why Florida’s new guidelines for teaching African American history need some work.
Don’t forget, “They’d still be living in mud huts.”
Thanx I had almost forgotten that bit of manure. chuq
Typical for the right wing to portray things this way. The slaves learned useful job skills and became good capitalists! Isn’t that nice? Next we’ll have a lesson about why child labor is a good thing….
Give them time….the way that some are working to repeal child labor laws we may soon hear the benefits of children working in mines. chuq