2023-07-25 10:02:00
Ron DeSantis likes to point out what he has already achieved in his state as governor. Florida as a blueprint for all of America – this is also the subtitle of his book, which was published in the spring, just before DeSantis announced his candidacy for the presidential candidacy. The Republican is used to offending. He usually uses the boos from the democratic camp to once again lament the country’s “woke” indoctrination.
Sofia Dreisbach
North American political correspondent based in Washington.
The topic has become his brand. And so it was unusual when DeSantis stood before journalists and supporters last week and appeared to distance himself from a decision in his state. “I didn’t do that and I wasn’t involved,” DeSantis said of Florida’s new history curriculum, which professionals had previously drafted and approved by the state school board.
Among other things, these stipulate that pupils from sixth to eighth grade should learn something about the advantages of slavery in addition to the “harsh conditions”. It says, referring to various jobs slaves were forced to do, that it should also be taught how they “developed skills which in some cases they could use to their personal advantage”. The reactions were violent, not only from the democratic side. Vice President Kamala Harris scheduled a trip to Florida at short notice and warned against forgetting history in Jacksonville on Friday: History should be “replaced with lies”. She is deeply concerned because this not only affects this state, but a “national agenda” behind it.
“Slavery was subjection of men as property”
DeSantis dismissed the vice president’s criticism as “absolutely ridiculous.” But his attempts to explain what this sentence could mean seemed bumpy. After denying his involvement, the governor continued: The teachings showed “probably some of the people who could eventually capitalize on it,” such as having worked as a blacksmith. In any case, these are just facts. His – probably hopeless – competitor for the Republican presidential nomination, the black Republican Will Hurd, reacted on Twitter: “Slavery was not a work program that taught useful skills.” It was a “subjugation of people as property”.
What is taught in Florida public schools and the rights of parents have always been key issues for Governor DeSantis. Last year he passed the so-called stop-woke law, which bans mention of “critical race theory” in schools. This examines structural racism in American society. DeSantis said at the time that the law would prevent “children from being taught to hate our country or hate each other”.
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