(VitalNews.org) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing another wave of criticism for statements he made recently when discussing the new school curriculum in Florida, which teaches that African American slaves learned valuable skills while enslaved.
The new curriculum was approved last Wednesday by the Florida Department of Education which includes teaching students about the “personal benefit” of chattel slavery. DeSantis was asked about the curriculum at a press conference
DeSantis said the curriculum is “probably going to show” that some slaves “eventually parlayed,” using their experience as a slave to do “things later in life” once they were free. African Studies courses, according to the new standards, will teach students “how slaves developed skills” that “in some instances” they were able to apply for their own “personal benefit.”
The Florida governor said the curriculum was put together by scholars and that any questions from the public should be directed to the state’s Department of Education.
The change comes following new legislation DeSantis signed in 2022 called the “Stop Woke Act,” which bans schools from teaching any lessons that will make public school students feel “shamed” due to their race. At the press conference, DeSantis noted that he did not personally play any role in the Sunshine State’s curriculum changes, but that he supports the change, which he reiterated as a decision made by academics in the state’s education department and not “done politically.”
The “Stop Woke Act” was intended to prevent the teaching of what is commonly referred to as “critical race theory” in public schools, a way of teaching that examines how the historical impact of racism in the United States impacts black Americans today.
Whether or not this curriculum framework is actual American history or a form of indoctrination is a debate that’s been raging in the United States for years, and it will surely be a topic raised during the 2021 presidential debates.
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