HB7 ('Anti-W.O.K.E' Act) and Cuban Americans

DeSantis and his Cuban American Commissioner of Education, former State Senator Manny Diaz Jr of Hialeah, have made their Anti-WOKE efforts very visible on the national scene by censoring the College Board's AP course on Black History and having the Board back down on content. Manny Diaz and another Cuban American Rep, Bryan Avila, sponsored HB7 later known as the Anti-Woke Act, which was used to censor the AP course. DeSantis rewarded Diaz with the post of Commissioner of Education in Florida. Cuban American Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, who was originally galvanized into running with DeSantis by the threat of having a Black Democratic governor, has been actively promoting the DeSantis anti-woke line using language evoking the colorblind racism of Cuban republicanismo, which is firmly against identities other than that of citizen:

"And I believe that one of the biggest threats that’s infiltrating our universities is a permeating culture — in which one might call it ‘woke culture’ one might call it ‘woke ideology’ one might call it ‘identity politics,'” Nuñez told the Board of Governors." -- FL Lt. Gov. Nuñez says New College ‘lost its way’ and needs to be ‘reined’ back 1/24/2023 Florida Phoenix

Nuñez' good friend Senator Marco Rubio has gotten into the act, proposing a series of bills to ban Critical Race Theory at the Federal level: Americans Demand Freedom from Woke Ideology 2/2/2023.

The national press, academics, and activists have uniformly failed to notice the impact of Cuban white supremacist culture on Florida's racial discourse, there has been no analysis of this to date. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has written extensively on the Latinization of US racial politics since 2003 and Manny Diaz explicitly banned him from Florida's educational system. With good reason, Bonilla-Silva views this Latinization as a congruence due to post Jim Crow factors in the US rather than outright influence, but there may be more of mix of congruence and influence in Florida where White Cubans have an outsized impact.

Woke is widely understood to be a synonym for Black Americans and progressive Whites. In the US Black community, surveys reveal that it has actually been applied across the range of Black political expression, see Why “Woke” Is A Convenient Republican Dog Whistle 1/26/2023 Time:

"Nearly 40% of Black Americans identify somewhat with the label, more than double the percentage of white Americans (19%). It’s also considerably more than the percentage of Hispanics (24%) or Asian Americans (19%). In fact, only 28% of Black Americans completely distanced themselves from the term, saying “woke” described them “not at all,” compared to clear majorities of white Americans (57%) and Asian Americans (54%). But “woke” is also a term for Black Americans that transcends ideology and partisanship in a way it doesn’t for any other group. Over 40% of Black Americans in the YouGov survey identify with the term whether they are liberals or moderates."

DeSantis and Diaz have been extensively gaslighting about how their anti woke measures affect Floridians, claiming that they will have no impact as they are only targeting extremist, communist ideologues.

Florida school district cancels real history as anti-CRT censorship spreads 1/24/2023 Salon: "This past Saturday, Dr. J. Michael Butler, the Kenan Distinguished Professor of History at Flagler College in St. Augustine, was supposed to lead a day-long seminar for Osceola County elementary school teachers on "The Long Civil Rights Movement." The event was hosted by the nonprofit National Council for History Education, a leading provider of professional development for history teachers, and was part of a three-year partnership between the council and the district to enrich history education at underserved public schools. (Osceola County, just southeast of Orlando, has a population of close to 400,000, which is nearly two-thirds Black or Latino, and a median household income of $52,000, well below the national median.)"

DeSantis’ attempt to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion is doomed to fail 2/12/2023 Tallahassee Democrat

Afro Latino scholars and activists slam Gov. DeSantis' dissection of AP African American studies 2/4/2023 NBC

Another part of this gaslighting is to say that Florida has a strong Black history program, which in reality was never implemented.

Florida’s struggle to teach Black history has become a battle over who controls the past 2/11/2023 Detroit News: "But now, as Gov. Ron DeSantis mounts a political attack on what he calls the “woke mob,” he claims that certain instruction of Black history is the equivalent of political indoctrination. And educators and advocates who pushed for the Black history standards say the governor’s policies are threatening to reverse the modest progress they have made. As DeSantis defends against charges that he is “erasing the state’s Black history,” he cites the 1994 law as evidence that it is required to be taught, but he is confronted with contradictions: — Budget records show that the implementation of the law that has been on the books for nearly 28 years has been not only understaffed and barely enforced, but DeSantis and legislative leaders have rejected requests to beef up resources to expand the teaching of Black history in Florida. — The word “reparation,” which is central to the Rosewood saga that spawned the Black history law, is now considered off-limits in Florida classrooms because state officials have determined that discussion of the reparation movement, which involves offering financial restitution to the descendants of enslaved people for the harms of slavery and racial discrimination, is an attempt at “indoctrination.”

They are also gaslighting about the impact their laws are having on school libraries, claiming there are no empty shelves when Diaz's Department of Education has threatened teachers and administrators with felonies if they make the wrong move around the books.

Call the "woke busters": Ron DeSantis sends volunteer army to snatch books from students' hands 2/3/2023 Salon

Florida Commissioner of Education attacks Popular Information 2/1/2023 Popular Information "On January 23, Popular Information reported that teachers in Manatee County, Florida are being told to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution. A memo created by the Manatee County School District, and distributed to principals, instructed teachers to "remove or cover all classroom libraries until all materials can be reviewed."

It remains a mystery how Republicans expect to indulge in anti-science and destroy the public school system while competing using 200 million white people against 1,400 million Chinese people who have had a great reverence for education for several thousand years.

This is not DeSantis' first rodeo, he has developed his talents for stealth, gaslighting, and dirty tricks in other white supremacist challenges, such when he was navy attorney in Guantanamo:

Ron DeSantis accused of illegal acts of torture against Guantanamo detainees when he was a Navy JAG officer 1/26/2023 Florida Bulldog: "Mansoor Adayfi, formerly detainee #441 and also known as Abdul Rahman Ahmed, says JAG Officer Ron DeSantis observed, allowed and participated in illegal acts of torture to help put down a hunger strike in 2006 by dozens of detainees protesting their detention. DeSantis also covered up the torture, Adayfi says."

One of the fundamental structures of racism in Latin America and Cuba is Latin republicanismo, which Bolivar and his people brought over from France. Initially it was a liberating factor in both places, as it still is in republicanismo popular. However, starting towards the end of the 19th century, it was misused to justify ethnic suppression and promote color blind racism. The idea is that we are all equal and our identity is as citizens. Therefore, there is no ethnic identity, this is suppressed except of course for the default Spanish criollo identity. This complex is the historic driver for color blind racism and racism without racists, as Eduardo Bonilla Silva describes so well. These notions are increasingly used by US white supremacists, but they are already part of the culture in Miami. We have a page devoted to resources on republican ideals.

The Cuban government has been severely criticized in recent years for their systemic racism, most especially by Miami. At a basic level, their census is wildly inaccurate, dramatically undercounting Black and mixed populations, who are the majority. Critics note the presence of a disproportionate number of Blacks in jails and their current absence from the university system. Parts of the Cuban government promote a colorblind approach to racial issues that is itself a form of racism. However, none of the Miami press nor the dissident groups criticize racism in Florida, where the jails are also full of Black Americans and the universities appear poised to delete Black scholarship, thanks in part to their efforts which are now focused on establishing a colorblind Jim Crow II. To continue this spin will require a lot of gaslighting. They will need to continue ignoring the real efforts the Cuban government is making to change Cuba in a direction opposite to what the Cubans in Miami want to achieve in Florida. These Cubans are caught in a demographic trap as Cuban Miami tries to stay white while Florida from St Lucie county down has almost 1.5 million Blacks whose numbers may be growing faster than theirs if national trends hold. The island over the years has become Blacker. There is an Antiracism in Miami movement, but its impact is minor.

For those who think this site rigidly and uncritically supports the Cuban government, we can only point out that we have a lot of critiques based in documented realities throughout this site and that includes issues related to racism and the use of colorblind republicanismo, which is typically what most Cubans on the island use to justify racist policies, much more so than communism or class war reductionism. We think that appropriate criticism means better solidarity. We try to avoid the rigid binary outlook, good vs evil, so common to indo-european thinking. And we do not ally ourselves with the white supremacists in Miami, who have a continent wide reputation for genocide: they privately say the island is predominantly African, something to be punished, while they publicly repeat the same endless propaganda points, secure in the knowledge that the people they fund will not critize them.

As a measure of continuity with the white supremacist Cuban and American past, Ron DeSantis in 2021 honored the batistiano Felix Rodriguez, the man who represented the CIA in the killing of Che Guevara and who also founded the first major drug cartels in Colombia, Central America, and Mexico. The damage these cartels did to communities of color across the US is unfathomable.

Florida’s Republican Governor Awards Medal of Freedom to Che Guevara’s Assassin 10/6/2021 Covert Action Magazine: "On September 16, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis awarded the Governor’s Medal of Freedom to Félix Rodríguez, the Cuban anti-communist counter-revolutionary who lives in Florida. As a contract agent for the CIA Rodríguez helped locate and assassinate Che Guevara in Bolivia in 1967. Assassination is a political murder. The Governor’s medal allowed DeSantis to recognize Rodríguez as a “person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to the interests and citizens of the state, (and) its culture.”"

The DeSantis - Diaz anti-woke crusade has had its echoes in France, as if to confirm that the source of Latin republicanismo is just as interested in suppressing ethnic identities. See The French Are in a Panic Over le Wokisme 2/4/2023 The Atlantic . We have some pages dedicated to republicanism and racism in France as the mechanisms underpining white supremacy are remarkably similar to those found in Latin America.

DeSantis and Diaz have banned a number of authors and topics, including Intersectionality, whose use has increased on the island in recent years. They make reference to the person who coined that phrase, Kimberlé Crenshaw, a widely respected professor at Colombia University Law School, and have also explicitly banned her writings. She is very popular among anti racism activists in Cuba, including those the Miami press likes to play up.

Intersectionality is likely key to understanding the drivers for white supremacy. The evidence from India suggests that white supremacy has been associated with patriarchal manifestations, including the control of women and an intolerance of LGBTQ, for more than 3500 years. In Florida, we can see this playing out as the DeSantis regime bans talk of menstruation, bans abortion, and bans talk of LGBTQ in schools all the way through the 12th grade in association with the extravagant white supremacist legislation they have been enacting.

In parallel to the DeSantis/Diaz efforts, we can also find other instances of prominent Cuban Americans making racist statements designed to influence their American audience. Dr. Julio Gonzalez is a former Florida state representative. He is president of the United States Medical Association and wrote American Medical Association’s Racism Course Is Unscientific Propaganda in the 2/20/2023 Federalist, where he actually defends the biological concept of race:

"Yet claiming the absence of any genetic or biological basis for race is patently absurd. One can scarcely imagine how a physician could deny associations between certain genetically caused diseases and racial or ethnic groups such as Tay-Sachs disease and Ashkenazi Jews, sickle cell disease and people of African descent, and cystic fibrosis and people of European descent, to name a few."

Just to take sicke cell disease, it also exists in populations outside of Africa where malaria is prevalent, such as Italy, South America and Asia. That's how evolution works. Tay-Sachs exists in Amish, Quebecois, and Cajun communities, there is no need to invoke a mysterious race of people of African descent or of Ashkenazi Jews, both of whom are genetically diverse.

We are barely scratching the surface here of an extraordinary effort to redefine Jim Crow in new, more sustainable terms, an effort the largely white Cuban American community in South Florida is fully backing as it is congruent with their culture. Most of the articles we find on the anti-woke law are, tellingly, in English -- there is apparently little consciousness of the phenomena in the US based Spanish media. We view this as a great opportunity to bring folks together, organizing around Florida issues. There are those who say that the DeSantis/Diaz approach is a diversion from the many serious economic issues facing Floridians, as on the national level. However, this "diversion" appears to be central to the economic claims made by Republicans. It's just that their followers are not clear on how profoundly they are being led astray:

Why Conservative Parts of the U.S. Are So Angry 1/29/2022 Yes Magazine: "In a growing nationwide trend, the median household incomes of people of color, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, now exceed those of White people in nearly 200 of the 1,500 Republican-trifecta counties—those in which the party controls the governor’s office and both legislative chambers of state government (see Figure 1). This is a visible factor that has fueled Trump voters’ complaints alleging White people’s diminished status."

Andy Petit, 2/18/2023

Articles/Artículos

The story behind that Florida school curriculum that whitewashed slavery keeps getting worse  8/1/2023 LA Times: "As I reported, however, of the 16 individuals Allen and Rice mentioned to support their assertion, nine never were slaves, seven were identified by the wrong trade and 13 or 14 did not learn their skills while enslaved. One, Betty Washington Lewis, whom Allen and Rice identified as a “shoemaker,” was white: She was George Washington’s younger sister and a slave owner."

In DeSantis rebuke, 2 major Black orgs move their conferences — and millions in revenue — out of Florida  8/1/2023 National Reporter: "Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the country’s oldest and largest intercollegiate Black fraternity, and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), one of the largest student-governed organizations based in the U.S., have decided to move their conferences that were scheduled to be in Florida in 2025 and 2024, respectively, to other states, citing a potential “hostile” environment for their members."

Leaked Chats Reveal How Nazi Symbol Made It to DeSantis Staffer’s Twitter: Report  7/31/2023 Rolling Stone: "As it turns out, the videos were being produced in-house by the DeSantis campaign, and shopped out to influencers in order to give the appearance of organic content creation. Hotchman himself produced the video with Nazi imagery he later boosted via a separate account. The screenshots obtained by Semafor reveal that high level staffers were in the scheme, including Campaign Director of Rapid Response Christina Pushaw and Press Secretary Bryan Griffinwere. The messages originated from a group chat housed on the encrypted communication app Signal, and titled “War Room Creative Ideas.”"

The GOP’s Nazi Problem Has Deep Roots  7/31/2023 The Nation: "But the GOP’s white nationalist problem extends beyond the Trump/DeSantis race. On Wednesday, Media Matters reported that Matteo Cina, a Fox News staffer and former writer for Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, repeatedly posted antisemitic messages on TikTok. One Cina post argued that, “it is hard to talk about the Holocaust and rising anti semitism [sic] without discussing Jewish presence in banking.” Arizona congressman Paul Gosar has extensive ties to the racist far right. In 2021 he spoke at a white nationalist rally hosted by Nick Fuentes."

The Florida history standards are right about slavery  7/24/2023 Washington Examiner: "The standards do not say that some slaves benefited from slavery. The standards say that some slaves were taught skills and that those slaves benefited from having those skills. Which is true!"

Mask Off: DeSantis Staffer Reportedly Shares Video of DeSantis and Giant Nazi Symbol  7/24/2023 The New Republic: "But one scene caught a lot of people’s attention: an image of DeSantis, a Nazi symbol interposed over the Florida flag, and soldiers marching toward it."

'Racists believe he’s a racist': Andrew Gillum’s 2018 warning about Ron DeSantis resurfaces  7/23/2023 Alternet: "That resulted in a narrow DeSantis victory of 49.6 percent to 49.2 percent over Gillum in the November 6th election. A mere 32,463 votes constituted that 0.4 percent difference….'First of all, he's got Neo-Nazis helping him outin this state. He has spoken at racist conferences. He's accepted a contribution and would not return it from someone who referred to the former president of the United States as a Muslim n****r. When asked to return that money, he said no. He's using that money to now fund negative ads.' "

Fan of Ron DeSantis accused of posting video containing Nazi imagery  7/23/2023 Raw Story: ""In Nazi Germany, the Nazi Party, the SA and the SS all used sonnenrad symbology at times, which has led neo-Nazis and other modern white supremacists to adopt such images," the group explained. In the fan account's version, the outer part of the circle says "Make America Florida," which has been DeSantis' campaign slogan."

Las nuevas normas sobre la enseñanza de la esclavitud en Florida crean la polémica  7/21/2023 Radio France Internacional: "Pero donde el Departamento de Educación de Florida está causando controversia es con sus instrucciones que recomiendan a los profesores enseñar a los alumnos que los esclavos "desarrollaron habilidades" que podían "aplicar en su beneficio personal". Otro pasaje muy cuestionado se refiere a la enseñanza de los crímenes raciales que, según las nuevas normas educativas de Florida, fueron "perpetrados contra negros pero también por afroamericanos"."

Benefited from slavery? Critics say some of the state’s examples were never even slaves.  7/21/2023 Tampa Bay Times: "Alex Lanfranconi, a spokesperson for the department, said the experts stand behind their examples. Frances Presley Rice, a co-founder of the Yocum African American History Association and chairperson of the National Black Republican Association, provided the information to the department. But other sources offer conflicting descriptions of the 16 historic figures, and critics came forward quickly to attack the department’s claims. Several argued that nearly half the figures highlighted by the state were never enslaved. Others, who did spend time in slavery, did not gain their skills from their servitude."

Las escuelas de Florida enseñan que algunas personas negras se beneficiaron de la esclavitud porque aprendieron habilidades  7/21/2023 NBC: "El sindicato dijo que es preocupante que en el nivel de secundaria, los estándares confundan la Masacre de Ocoee de 1920, cuando al menos 30 afroamericanos fueron asesinados por intentar votar, con “actos de violencia perpetrados por afroamericanos”. Y en la escuela media, las normas exigen que se enseñe a los estudiantes que la esclavitud fue beneficiosa para los afroamericanos porque les ayudó a desarrollar habilidades, según denuncia el sindicato."

Florida Schools Will Teach How Slavery Brought ‘Personal Benefit’ to Black People  7/20/2023 Daily Beast: DeSantis is pictured with Cuban Commissioner of Education, Manny Diaz. "Middle school students in Florida will soon be taught that slavery gave Black people a “personal benefit” because they “developed skills.” After the Florida Board of Education approved new standards for African American history on Wednesday, high school students will be taught an equally distorted message: that a deadly white mob attack against Black residents of Ocoee, Florida, in 1920 included “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”"

Transgender adults in Florida `blindsided' that new law also limits their access to health care  6/4/2023 AP: "Florida has the second-largest population of transgender adults in the U.S., at an estimated 94,900 people, according to the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. It used state-level, population-based surveys to determine its estimates."

1 complaint led a Florida school to restrict access to Amanda Gorman's famous poem  5/25/2023 NPR: "In an interview with member station WLRN, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz said the school was following policy. "The process worked," he said. "A parent has the right to make a complaint. But the process was put into effect and it worked where they deemed the proper placement of the books. And the students still have access to it at the right level. And no books were banned.""

Mom who complained about Amanda Gorman poem shared antisemitic conspiracy and praised Proud Boys  5/25/2023 Salon: "ABC News reviewed the posts of a profile appearing to belong to the parent, identified by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as Daily Salinas, in a Thursday report."

Florida mother behind ban on Amanda Gorman poem has Proud Boys links  5/25/2023 Guardian: [Baffling: does not even mention that she is Cuban American.]

She stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. Then Gov. Ron DeSantis made her a state regulator  5/24/2023 USA Today: "Atkinson, alongside six other board members, presided over repeated discussions about whether to grant or revoke state licenses to massage therapists, often because of their criminal histories. Contacted by USA TODAY, Atkinson at first denied she had entered the Capitol. She then said she declined to comment."

Florida Mom Behind Amanda Gorman Book Ban Has Proud Boy Links  5/24/2023 Daily Beast: "“My biggest fear is, they talk about the Democratic Party. They talk about socialism, socialism and communism going in the same way,” Salinas said. She told PBS she had fled Cuba for the United States when she was 21 years old. “The reason why we came here, I remember, I was little, and I say I need to live. It’s too much oppression and the dictator. So I don’t want this for my kids. I want my kids [to] keep their freedom,” she told the program. In August 2021, Salinas attended a protest against masks in Miami-Dade schools, where she was photographed standing next to Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys. Tarrio had already been implicated in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, for which he was later convicted of seditious conspiracy. (Salinas has shared posts indicating she believes Jan. 6 defendants are political prisoners.) Just over a year later, Salinas attended another rally organized by the Proud Boys in support of Christoper Morzon, a far-right extremist nicknamed the “Cuban Confederate.” At the protest in November, 2022, Salinas can be seen wearing a Ron DeSantis t-shirt and hat."

Miami Lakes school moves Biden inaugural poem out of elementary section of library after complaint  5/24/2023 WSVN-TV: "“The Hill We Climb,” the poem written by Amanda Gorman for President Joe Biden’s inauguration, was moved out of the elementary section of one Miami-Dade County public school after a parent objected to the poem saying it would “cause confusion and indoctrinate students.”"

Esta madre latina desató una polémica por un famoso poema  5/24/2023 Telemundo: "Los hijos de Daily Salinas estudian en una escuela de Miami Lakes donde tenían acceso al poema que Amanda Gorman recitó en la toma de posesión de Joe Biden. Se quejó por su contenido ante el distrito escolar y hasta la alcaldesa se involucró."

Florida approves social studies textbook list after changes to racial, social justice references  5/9/2023 The Hill: "In another instance, a mention of the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2020 murder of George Floyd was entirely removed in a book for grades six to eight for being considered “unsolicited topics.” The state announced last year that numerous math textbooks would be banned for references to “prohibited topics” like critical race theory and “Social Emotional Learning.”"

The Ron DeSantis Research Book  4/3/2023 American Bridge: "Today, American Bridge 21st Century, the largest research and tracking operation in Democratic and progressive politics, launched a publicly accessible research hub to hold Ron DeSantis accountable. The free and searchable website provides detailed reports from American Bridge’s presidential research department, breaking down thousands of pages of records, disclosures, and reporting into thematic documents totaling over 500 pages for the public and progressive allies."

Dems dump 500 pages of DeSantis opposition research  4/3/2023 Axios: "American Bridge 21st Century, one of the largest tracking and research groups in progressive politics, compiled the trove — released as a website — after spending the last year gathering data on DeSantis to brand him as a "MAGA extremist.""

Florida textbook publisher under fire for editing Rosa Parks’ story to omit race  3/17/2023 Alternet: "Per the news outlet: "In the current lesson on Rosa Parks, segregation is clearly explained: 'The law said African Americans had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted to sit down.'” "In an updated version created for review by Florida’s textbook committee, race is not mentioned at all," the news outlet noted. “'She was told to move to a different seat,' the lesson said, without an explanation of segregation." When questioned about the changes, Studies Weekly indicated that the decision was the result of Florida's newly passed law."

What Florida Doesn’t Want You to Know About Its Book Bans  3/12/2023 Daily Beast: "Media specialists and teachers who do not remove a book that is considered inappropriate can be faced with a third-degree felony, loss of teaching license, and a $5,000 fine. Some media specialists, afraid of non-compliance, consult with other districts to see what books have been pulled. Others simply remove every book on the parent’s list. The books in Martin County were removed in a matter of weeks—far too quickly for all 92 to be read and assessed."

No ‘hoax’: Florida NOW rips Ron DeSantis for ‘classroom censorship’  3/11/2023 Florida Politics: "For its part, the Governor’s Office says that a small number of books were removed for violating standards as part of a larger “stand against pornography and sexual material in the classroom.” “Of the 23 districts that reported removing materials, the most removed were tied at 19 in Duval and St. Johns Counties — not even close to a whole classroom library. Of the 175 books removed across the state, 164 (94%) were removed from media centers, and 153 (87%) were identified as pornographic, violent, or inappropriate for their grade level.” PEN America, meanwhile, reports that 566 book bans are in effect in Florida schools, which is the second highest total of any state in the country."

PEN America Index of Educational Gag Orders  2/28/2023 PEN

Nikki Fried, new Dem Chair, in 2016 supported Manny Diaz Jr who banned AP course  2/26/2023 FL Extreme Watch: "Former Senator, now Department of Education head Manny Diaz is responsible for the privatization and right-wing radicalization of public education, erasing LGBTQ+ people, Black history, and banning books. Enriching his donors in the process. Nikki Fried supported his campaign."

New Head of Florida Dems supported white supremacist Manny Diaz Jr in his 2016 campaign  2/26/2023 FL Extreme Watch: "Fascist apologists are so cringe."

Florida substitute teacher fired over video DeSantis called ‘fake narrative’  2/19/2023 The Hill: "Covey posted a video responding to DeSantis’s “fake narrative” comments last week, showing multiple empty book shelves and saying the county had only reviewed a small fraction of book titles."

Teacher fired after DeSantis says bookshelf video was ‘fake narrative’  2/18/2023 WaPo: "“Yes, those shelves were empty,” the district wrote. “But they were in a room full of books.” Covey pointed out to The Post that the 6,000 books approved by the state is 0.375 percent of the 1.6 million book titles that Duval County Public Schools says need to be reviewed. Covey and others noted in separate photos and videos how the shelves in the district’s video were far from full."

DeSantis Now Says Teachers Are Shelving Books to Make Him Look Bad  2/15/2023 Daily Beast: "DeSantis was backed by Florida’s Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, who called the controversial rules that have forced costly reviews and book removals “fake news.” “Florida does not ban books, and this particular book on baseball legend Roberto Clemente is currently on school bookshelves across the state!” Diaz tweeted. However, a spokesperson for the school district pointed out that Clemente’s book is one of 1.6 million titles under review following the state’s restrictive new laws, which have impacted teachers’ ability to teach about topics including race, gender and sexuality in Florida."

Lost Cause 2.0? DeSantis and Republicans inspired by racist Confederate history re-writes  2/15/2023 People's World: "In early 20th-century America, the United Confederate Veterans, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans organized a committee to get the Lost Cause myth into textbooks. The panel was dubbed the Rutherford Committee for its chair, the UDC’s Mildred Lewis Rutherford—the Ron DeSantis of her day. Clardy said the UDC, egged on by the UCV and SCV, took the lead in “recasting the Civil War, not as a war against slavery, which it was, but as a war for so-called ‘states’ rights,’ and recasting the Confederacy in romantic terms. They said that slavery really wasn’t as horrific as its detractors said it was, and that slave and slave owner lived as family.”"

Ron DeSantis’s war on “woke” in Florida schools, explained  2/15/2023 Vox: "From book bans to a hostile campus takeover, here’s a rundown of DeSantis’s conservative plan for Florida education."

CNN’s Don Lemon Asks Black History Activist If DeSantis Is Like Those Preschool Teachers In Blackface Incident  2/15/2023 Mediaite: "I think he gets it. I think he is using our state as the test lab to see how the nation responds. Because he wants to run for president. And what we want to show the nation, Don, is if you allow him to run for president, what you’re seeing in a microcosmic way in Florida is what you will see in a macrocosmic way in the nation."

Three little letters that have Florida’s Ron DeSantis on the attack  2/13/2023 CNN: [DEI, diversity, equity and inclusion. Article out of the Kennedy School at Harvard.] "Khalil Gibran Muhammad is the Ford Foundation professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and director of the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project, or IARA. Erica Licht is research project director at IARA. The views in this commentary are their own."

DeSantis’s corporate donors under fire for ‘hypocrisy’ over Black History Month  2/13/2023 Guardian: "“These corporations can say that they stand with the Black community but then also fund the governor and his work around dismantling Black history,” said Jasmine Burney-Clark, founder of Equal Ground, a progressive group based in Orlando, Florida. “It’s a huge level of hypocrisy.”"

After caving to DeSantis on AP Black Studies, the College Board lied about their contacts  2/13/2023 LA Times: "The board asserts that the changes made in the curriculum before it was finalized constitute “a significant improvement, rather than a watering down.” Scholars may come to their own conclusions about that. But given that (according to the state) the board told Florida officials in November that topics such as “systemic marginalization” and “intersectionality” — which allude to the deep-seated racism latent in American society and culture — “could not be removed” from the course, and they’re no longer required topics, it’s certainly questionable."

DeSantis’ attempt to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion is doomed to fail  2/12/2023 Tallahassee Democrat: "In the real world, corporate America has overwhelmingly adopted diversity, equity, and inclusion. All the Fortune 100 companies have made a public commitment to DEI. Why? Because the young, talented workers they want to attract are demanding it. Employees now expect their employer to promote the values they hold. Why did Disney come out against DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” law? Because Disney employees around the country wouldn’t stand for anything less. The unemployment rate is unprecedentedly low … it’s hard to attract top talent. Millennials and Gen-Z are driving the workforce now and they expect DEI to be a priority."

Florida’s struggle to teach Black history has become a battle over who controls the past  2/11/2023 Detroit News: "But now, as Gov. Ron DeSantis mounts a political attack on what he calls the “woke mob,” he claims that certain instruction of Black history is the equivalent of political indoctrination. And educators and advocates who pushed for the Black history standards say the governor’s policies are threatening to reverse the modest progress they have made. As DeSantis defends against charges that he is “erasing the state’s Black history,” he cites the 1994 law as evidence that it is required to be taught, but he is confronted with contradictions: — Budget records show that the implementation of the law that has been on the books for nearly 28 years has been not only understaffed and barely enforced, but DeSantis and legislative leaders have rejected requests to beef up resources to expand the teaching of Black history in Florida. — The word “reparation,” which is central to the Rosewood saga that spawned the Black history law, is now considered off-limits in Florida classrooms because state officials have determined that discussion of the reparation movement, which involves offering financial restitution to the descendants of enslaved people for the harms of slavery and racial discrimination, is an attempt at “indoctrination.”

Florida details months of complaints about AP African American studies course  2/10/2023 Boston Globe: "The pilot version included terms such as systemic marginalization, systemic oppression and systemic discrimination nine times. But the word “systemic” does not appear at all in the final framework. Packer said the College Board wanted the course plan to include concrete examinations of systemic discrimination rather than “abstract language.” For instance, students will look at discrimination in distribution of GI Bill support for veterans and be asked to “describe the enduring forms of segregation and discrimination in daily life that African Americans faced in the first half of the 20th century.” The letter from Florida, which was first reported by the Daily Caller, lists 19 subjects that it says were removed from the framework. The office said it was grateful for the changes, which it took credit for by saying the revisions came about “by no coincidence.” Packer, from the College Board, disputed that account. But the College Board did remove the mention of several hot-button topics that are part of the pilot program. That includes lessons on Black Lives Matter, reparations for the harms of slavery and racial discrimination, as well as suggested readings from left-leaning notables such as scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, an architect of critical race theory."

Florida is officially a laboratory for fascism in the U.S.  2/7/2023 Salon: "The Black Freedom Struggle is one of the most successful pro-democracy resistance movements in American (and world) history. DeSantis and the other Republican-fascists and their forces do not want these lessons to be known, learned, or otherwise disseminated. DeSantis is working to create a type of "regime of knowledge" where Black, brown and other marginalized people's triumphs and experiences are outright erased and/or grossly distorted as a way of literally removing their personhood and existence."

DeSantis' alternative African-American history is doomed: Black conservatives can't replace CRT  2/6/2023 Salon: "What DeSantis and the other Republican fascists want is a country where white people are never made to feel uncomfortable. In essence, white people should never be made to feel challenged in "their own country" by Black or brown people who dare to speak the truth. The ability to choose how, where, when and in what ways that one will be made to feel uncomfortable (or not) is one of the basic tenets of white privilege – and other forms of privilege as well. DeSantis and his allies in Florida and across the country are abusing African-American history (and education more broadly) to fit that expectation."

Miami Black leaders apologize to Gov. Ron DeSantis after a member called him racist  2/5/2023 Fox News: "Black leaders in Miami apologized to Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis after one of its members called him a racist. Pierre Rutledge, chair of the Miami-Dade Black Affairs Advisory Board, issued a statement on behalf of his board that apologized to DeSantis for a comment made at their Wednesday meeting from a member who said, "our governor is racist.""

Afro Latino scholars and activists slam Gov. DeSantis' dissection of AP African American studies  2/4/2023 NBC: "Educator and community activist Ted Victor was outraged when he learned Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had decided an Advanced Placement African American studies course his daughter planned to take “significantly lacks educational value.” “No educational value, like something you can discard, something you can just throw away, something that says you are not as important as other people,” said Victor, who is Afro Latino and has taught for 25 years at the middle and high school level, and college. The son of a Cuban father and an Haitian mother, Victor was born in the Dominican Republic and was raised there, in Brazil and Brooklyn."

Call the "woke busters": Ron DeSantis sends volunteer army to snatch books from students' hands  2/3/2023 Salon: "DeSantis' lieutenant and Florida Commissioner of Education, Manny Diaz Jr., called the story "fake news" and accused the teachers of overreacting. But, as Judd Legum of Popular Info confirmed in a follow-up report, "Diaz's recommendations to teachers directly contradicts the training produced by his own agency," which requires all books to be prescreened and warns that the censors must "err on the side of caution" when deciding if a book fits the very right-wing definition of "harmful to minors." As Legum points out, one author that has been frequently targeted by Republican censors is Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison, making it clear that it's not "pornography" that is in dispute here — which no one actually thinks teachers were providing — but internationally renowned literature. That explains why books about the Holocaust and Martin Luther King Jr. have also been frequently targeted by Republicans for bans."

What’s really behind Florida’s attack on African American Studies  2/3/2023 CNN: "There is a very good explanation for the choice to focus public attention on false definitions of critical race theory. By assigning values to CRT that many people will find offensive or morally repugnant, the DeSantis administration can gain public support for censoring the group of people who are most likely to cite research categorized as CRT or be cited by scholars using CRT — African Americans. If CRT teaches that some people are better than other people (it doesn’t), or that White children are to blame for the actions of White people across history (it doesn’t), then White parents should regard the people who write about CRT as dangerous influences."

Americans Demand Freedom from Woke Ideology  2/2/2023 Marco Rubio: "That’s why I am reintroducing eight bills to protect the American people from radical woke activism in all its forms. If we become a country where left-wing protestors are exempt from the law, Wall Street wields investors’ dollars as a weapon against conservatives, and the U.S. government undermines the national interest, we won’t last long. Common-sense policymakers have a duty to hold elites accountable and prevent wokeness from turning the land of the free into another Cuba, Venezuela, or Nicaragua."

El gobierno de la Florida prohíbe un importante curso de estudios afroamericanos  2/2/2023 Mundiario: "Pretender ocultar la desgarradora historia de la esclavitud y el racismo, los crímenes contra los afroamericanos y el legado de discriminación que todavía sufren es como si en las escuelas de Alemania se intentara suprimir la enseñanza sobre el nazismo y sus espantosas acciones. Pero DeSantis le da la espalda a la historia y usa el espectro del comunismo para evitar que en la Florida se reconozca una dolorosa realidad: la riqueza nacional se levantó sobre los hombros de los africanos esclavizados, traídos a la fuerza en condiciones inhumanas a través del Atlántico, y la esclavitud dejó un legado de racismo y prejuicios que aún perdura. Para erradicar ese legado, borrar la discriminación y lograr la igualdad racial, es preciso admitir los errores y los horrores del pasado y hacer todo lo posible por repararlos."

Florida Commissioner of Education attacks Popular Information  2/1/2023 Popular Information: "On January 23, Popular Information reported that teachers in Manatee County, Florida are being told to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution. A memo created by the Manatee County School District, and distributed to principals, instructed teachers to "remove or cover all classroom libraries until all materials can be reviewed."

Profesora de historia opina sobre la controversia de los estudios afroamericanos AP de Florida  2/1/2023 Local 10, Miami: "Dannielle Boyer, profesora de historia en Miami Northwestern Senior High School, dijo que la historia es acerca de los hechos, la historia de todos nosotros y cómo todos estamos entrelazados, que dijo que a menudo se deja de lado. “La historia afroamericana forma parte de la historia de Estados Unidos”, afirma Boyer. “Nadie cuenta la historia de la rebelión haitiana que provocó la Compra de Luisiana y que Napoleón tuviera que vender esa tierra barata a Estados Unidos. Nadie oye hablar de eso. No está escrito en los libros como debería”."

The College Board Strips Down Its A.P. Curriculum for African American Studies  2/1/2023 NYT: "But the fracas over the exam raises questions about whether the African American Studies course, as modified, fulfills its mission of mimicking a college-level course, which usually expects students to analyze secondary sources and take on contentious topics."

Caving to the right on Black history, the College Board gives a course in cowardice  2/1/2023 LA Times: "The Florida Commissioner of Education, Manny Diaz Jr., lashed out at Popular Information's recent reporting on Florida classroom libraries, calling it "fake news from media activists too lazy to read [Florida] law." But Popular Information's reporting was completely accurate — and later confirmed by other outlets, including the Washington Post. It was Diaz, in an interview published Monday by the conservative National Review, who grossly misrepresented his own department's guidance in an effort to defend Governor Ron DeSantis (R)."

DeSantis proposes banning diversity and inclusion initiatives at Florida universities  2/1/2023 CNN: "In a press release about the announced legislation, the governor’s office called diversity, equity and inclusion programs “discriminatory” and vowed to prohibit universities from funding them, even if the source of the money isn’t coming from the state."

College Board unveils official framework for new AP African American studies course  2/1/2023 CNN: "The topics that raised the concerns of the DeSantis administration were intersectionality and activism, Black queer studies, Movements for Black Lives, Black feminist literary thought, reparations, and Black study and Black struggle in the 21st century. Many of the objections were tied to the inclusion of texts from modern Black thought leaders and history teachers, whose writings the DeSantis administration believes violate state laws. Black Lives Matter, the Movement of Black Lives or the case for reparations were not included in the official course framework released on Wednesday. None of the authors listed as concerning by Florida education officials are included in the required readings of the final framework."

putting to rest the false narratives surrounding classroom libraries  2/1/2023 Manny Diaz Jr, Twitter: [Over 95% of the responses to this tweet are very negative towards Manny Diaz. In the Spanish version, there are far fewer comments and they are more positive.] "Florida Freedom to Read Project @FLFreedomRead Replying to @SenMannyDiazJr It has been a wk since this awful tweet attempting to gaslight FL parents. Did you think you could order this level of censorship & have it disappear with the next news cycle?"

Open Letter In Defense of African American Studies AP  1/31/2023 African American Studies Faculty in Higher Ed African American Studies Faculty in Higher Ed, 200+ signatures: "The contention that an AP curriculum in African American Studies “lacks educational value” is a proposition supported by white supremacist ideology, because it fundamentally demeans the history, culture, and contributions of Black people. This has terrible consequences for the young people of color who live in that state. It echoes other ongoing efforts across the United States to purge the public sphere of any mention of “divisive concepts,” or any conversation about the enduring fact of racism in the history of this nation, this hemisphere, and this world. It is also racism wrapped inside of homophobia."

Governor DeSantis Elevates Civil Discourse and Intellectual Freedom in Higher Education  1/31/2023 Ron DeSantis: "Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced legislation for the 2023 Session to further elevate civil discourse and intellectual freedom in higher education, further pushing back against the tactics of liberal elites who suppress free thought in the name of identity politics and indoctrination. Amongst its many provisions, the legislation will ensure Florida’s public universities and colleges are grounded in the history and philosophy of Western Civilization; prohibit DEI, CRT and other discriminatory programs and barriers to learning; and course correct universities’ missions to align education for citizenship of the constitutional republic and Florida’s existing and emerging workforce needs."

Fear of a Black-Studies Planet  1/30/2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education: "Because of these outrageous encroachments and the certainty that there will be more, efforts to produce critically oriented curricula are more crucial now than ever. Fortunately, many people understand the urgency of this moment. Organizations like the African American Policy Forum and the Anti-Racist Teaching and Learning Collective are devising plans so that the life of the mind will not become the terrain of our surrender. Here, we would do well to heed the words of the Black lesbian, feminist, and socialist writer Audre Lorde, who said in 1982, “To refuse to participate in the shaping of our future is to give up. Do not be misled into passivity either by false security (they don’t mean me) or by despair (there’s nothing we can do). Each of us must find our work and do it.”"

Olentangy's Dr. Suess scandal shows depth of 'anti-critical race theory hysteria'  1/27/2023 Colombus Dispatch: "There are actually two main motivations behind it [Critical Race Theory]. The first is to define critical race theory so nebulously that any classroom discussions about race, no matter how educational or innocuous, can readily be silenced by labeling them critical race theory. The second is to use critical race theory to sow distrust, and decrease enrollment, in public education, because many of the individuals and organizations currently campaigning against critical race theory hope to financially profit from the private “charter” schools they plan to open and operate."

DeSantis Versus the Left-Wing Educrats, Again  1/27/2023 National Review: "Leaked reading lists and teacher’s guides showed the course pushed critical race theorists such as Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, including his concept of “color-blind racism.” As Stanley Kurtz wrote here at NR, “If DeSantis were to approve a course pushing the idea of ‘color-blind racism,’ he would effectively be nullifying his own Stop WOKE Act.”

Why “Woke” Is A Convenient Republican Dog Whistle  1/26/2023 Time: "Nearly 40% of Black Americans identify somewhat with the label, more than double the percentage of white Americans (19%). It’s also considerably more than the percentage of Hispanics (24%) or Asian Americans (19%). In fact, only 28% of Black Americans completely distanced themselves from the term, saying “woke” described them “not at all,” compared to clear majorities of white Americans (57%) and Asian Americans (54%). But “woke” is also a term for Black Americans that transcends ideology and partisanship in a way it doesn’t for any other group. Over 40% of Black Americans in the YouGov survey identify with the term whether they are liberals or moderates."

Estudiantes amenazan con demandar a DeSantis por prohibir clase de Estudios Afroamericanos  1/26/2023 La Prensa: "Driskell también asegura que la decisión de la administración DeSantis es el “primero de lo que creo que serán muchos intentos de blanquear la historia para adaptarse a las personas emocionalmente frágiles.”"

La teoría crítica de la raza, prohibida en las universidades de Florida  1/25/2023 Al dia: "Según The Chronicle of Higher Education, los presidentes de los 28 colegios estatales y comunitarios de Florida dijeron en una declaración el miércoles que identificarían y eliminarían, antes del 1 de febrero, cualquier requisito académico o programa "que obligue a creer en la teoría crítica de la raza o conceptos relacionados como la interseccionalidad". Los presidentes afirmaron que las iniciativas están impulsando "ideologías como la teoría crítica de la raza y sus postulados relacionados", en lugar de promover lo que se supone que deberían: la diversidad, la equidad y la inclusión."

Sorry, Twitter, but Florida's war on books is no joke. Ron DeSantis wants to keep kids from reading  1/25/2023 Salon: "The language of "vetting" and whatnot is put in place by DeSantis and his allies to create just such a misleading debate about the nature of censorship. As with the draconian "don't say gay" law, the policies are written in such a vague way that defenders can pretend that they're limited in scope, while in fact, enforcement is broad. Defenders pretended the "don't say gay" law merely blocked "instruction," as if there were teachers giving how-tos on blow jobs. In reality, the word "instruction" is so vague that students and teachers feel they have to err on the side of pretending everyone is straight, lest they get accused of "instructing" kids about queer lives."

Backlash grows against DeSantis decision to block AP African American studies class  1/25/2023 WaPo: "State Rep. Michele Rayner (D) said that DeSantis is on a political “witch hunt” and violating Florida students’ freedom to learn — and that students are aware. “They know that the erasure of history is not a secret,” Rayner said. “There are 2.8 million students sitting in Florida public schools right now knowing that their governor does not want them to learn about Black history.”

Florida is offering an advanced lesson in anti-Blackness  1/24/2023 Washington Post: "I would hear people insist that if we just explained what critical race theory was, we could win by making fools of the conservatives who were banning nonexistent critical race theory courses. Those folks were wrong. Instead, by singling out AP African American studies, Florida is showing us what the end game was always about: making institutional anti-Blackness lawful again."

FL Lt. Gov. Nuñez says New College ‘lost its way’ and needs to be ‘reined’ back  1/24/2023 Florida Phoenix: "“But what I’ve seen, these new threats that are creeping and are taking hold are things that we need to face. And I believe that one of the biggest threats that’s infiltrating our universities is a permeating culture — in which one might call it ‘woke culture’ one might call it ‘woke ideology’ one might call it ‘identity politics,'” Nuñez told the Board of Governors. “And this can take many forms, many names — and we don’t need to get into all the names, certainly we can talk about it ad nauseam, but I do believe that some of these issues that are taking hold are — the policies that they advocate — are policies based on hate and based on indoctrination."

FIU professor’s ‘Teach the Truth’ tours defy DeSantis law on black history lessons  1/23/2023 The Grio: "Marvin Dunn, 82, one of eight plaintiffs in a complaint concerning DeSantis’ Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act, has been leading high school students on his “Teach the Truth” tour since Florida’s Republican governor began his mission to devalue Black studies."

DeSantis: la clase de estudios afroamericanos prohibida incluye una lección de “teoría queer”  1/23/2023 Local 10, Miami: "El Comisionado de Educación de Florida, Manny Diaz Jr, se refirió al curso como “adoctrinamiento woke disfrazado de educación”. DeSantis también dijo que el plan de estudios fue diseñado para impulsar una agenda política."

AP Teacher’s Guide Proves DeSantis Right in African-American Studies Clash  1/23/2023 National Review: "In the wake of the controversy, however, the Florida Standard newspaper has obtained a copy of the pilot APAAS curriculum and made it public. In another new development, I have now obtained a copy of a second document, the “APAAS Pilot Course Guide,” a manual designed for use by teachers. Taken together, the curriculum framework and the teacher’s guide expand our understanding of the course in a way that confirms the wisdom of DeSantis’s decision."

Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution  1/23/2023 Popular Information: "This interpretation of the law runs directly counter to the arguments the DeSantis administration is making in court. In federal court filings, lawyers representing DeSantis insist that the Parental Rights in Education Act does not apply to library books. Nevertheless, the DeSantis administration, through its media specialist training, is encouraging a much more expansive interpretation of the law."

Civil rights leaders plan rally to protest Florida’s decision to reject AP African-American studies class  1/23/2023 News4Jax: "Faith and civic leaders will launch a statewide movement to reverse the Florida Department of Education’s decision on African American studies."

Florida says AP class teaches critical race theory. Here's what's really in the course  1/22/2023 NPR: "Florida rejected an AP course filled with Critical Race Theory and other obvious violations of Florida law," Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. wrote on Twitter on Friday. "We proudly require the teaching of African American history. We do not accept woke indoctrination masquerading as education," he added. But Tinson denied accusations that the theory will be taught in the course. While the class will explore the issue of inequality, the framework itself is too advanced for high school students even in a college-level course, according to Tinson."

Florida defiende el bloqueo del curso de secundaria ‘despertado’  1/22/2023 Tiempo, Argentina: "El viernes, la portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Karine Jean-Pierre, criticó las acciones de Florida durante una conferencia de prensa regular. “El estado elige bloquear un curso que está destinado a estudiantes de secundaria de alto rendimiento para aprender sobre su historia de las artes y la cultura. Y es incomprensible”, dijo Jean-Pierre. Agregó, sin embargo, que la Casa Blanca “no dicta ningún plan de estudios para las escuelas locales”. El año pasado, Florida prohibió la enseñanza de la teoría crítica de la raza en las escuelas, prohibiendo los cursos que dicen que una persona, en virtud de su raza o sexo, es “moralmente superior” o “inherentemente racista, sexista u opresiva, ya sea consciente o inconscientemente”. El gobernador Ron DeSantis describió estas ideas como “racismo sancionado por el estado” y prometió prohibirlas en las aulas."

Florida cites CRT, ‘Black Struggle,’ and communism in rejected African American course  1/21/2023 Orlando Sentinel: "The administration does not want to ban the teaching of African American history, which for years has been a required subject in Florida public schools, but it cannot allow a course to be taught if it violates Florida law and amounts to “woke indoctrination masquerading as education,” tweeted Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, a former GOP state senator tapped by DeSantis for the top school job last year."

Florida officials explain why African American studies course violates state law  1/20/2023 News 6, Orlando: "“Florida rejected an AP course filled with Critical Race Theory and other obvious violations of Florida law,” Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. tweeted. “We proudly require the teaching of African American history. We do not accept woke indoctrination masquerading as education.”"

Florida Explains Why It Blocked Black History Class—and It’s a Doozy  1/20/2023 Daily Beast: "The Florida Department of Education says it banned AP African American History because it teaches students about activism, intersectionality and encourages “ending the war on Black trans, queer, gender non-conforming, and intersex people,” according to a document the department sent to The Daily Beast."

Rejected African American Studies Course in Florida Features CRT, Intersectionality and Queer Theory  1/19/2023 Florida Standard: [Links to download of the full AP syllabus.] "Section 4 of the syllabus introduces the topic “Postracial Racism and Colorblindness” and features texts from Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, who employs Critical Race Theory in his writings. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s book Racism without Racists describes how “Whites talk, think, and account for the existence of racial inequality and makes clear that color-blind racism is as insidious now as ever.” The book’s second chapter, entitled “What is Systemic Racism? Coming to Terms with How Racism Shapes ‘All’ Whites (and Non-Whites)” explains how “all members of society participate in structural racism,” according to an online summary."

Administración de DeSantis bloquea clases de estudios afroestadounidenses en las escuelas secundarias de Florida  1/19/2023 CNN: "En 2021, el estado promulgó una ley que prohibía enseñar el concepto que explora la historia del racismo sistémico en Estados Unidos y sus continuos impactos. La ley también prohibió el material de The 1619 Project, un proyecto ganador del premio Pulitzer de The New York Times para reformular la historia estadounidense en torno a la llegada de barcos de esclavos a las costas estadounidenses. El año pasado, DeSantis también firmó un proyecto de ley que restringe cómo las escuelas pueden hablar sobre la raza con los estudiantes."

At this point the Sunshine State is just a sundown town  1/19/2023 Always Learning: "Let’s speak plainly about the hypocrisy of the right wing. They use the language of “free speech” and open discourse while actively endeavoring to suppress both. The parallels between days passed when laws were used to control and exclude Blacks match up neatly with today’s efforts by thought-controlling white politicians to limit the studying of those past actions. Just because you pass laws demanding students be taught the law is colorblind doesn’t make it so. I’ll keep making the point that nowhere in the United States are there Black governors or elected officials seeking to outlaw white thought, white history, or white scholarship until someone recognizes the one-direction animus of anti-CRT lawmaking."

Judge: Florida not in violation of blocked “Stop Woke Act” by requesting funding info from colleges  1/17/2023 University Business: "While Spencer’s memo was specifically interested in the total funding that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and activities were receiving for budgetary purposes, Florida House Speaker Paul Renner has submitted his own request from state schools that digs deeper. In addition, he has asked schools to submit all communication between faculty members—whether written or electronic—that pertains to DEI curriculum, planning, staff, and policies."

Muzzled by DeSantis, Critical Race Theory Professors Cancel Courses or Modify Their Teaching  1/3/2023 ProPublica: "A month before the fall 2022 semester was set to start, he scrapped both courses. Students scrambled to register for other classes. “It didn’t seem like it was worth the risk,” said Cox, who taught a graduate course on inequality and education instead. “I’m completely unprotected.” He added, “Somebody who’s not even in the class could come after me. Somebody sees the course catalog, complains to a legislator — next thing I know, I’m out of a job.”"

How to ban 3600 books from school libraries  12/12/2022 Popular Information: "Friedman also challenged Dear Martin, citing the Parental Rights Act. But Dear Martin does not have any LGBTQ content. Dear Martin is about "the story of an Ivy League-bound African American student named Justyce who becomes a victim of racial profiling." Friedman says the book should be removed because it promotes "the Black Lives Matter movement" and "a sense of white guilt in its musings about 'micro-aggressions' as elsewhere defined in Critical Race Theory." Friedman may have been referring to the Stop WOKE Act, which prohibits instruction on Critical Race Theory in Florida classrooms. But, like the Parental Rights Act, the Stop WOKE Act applies to classroom instruction, not library books. Despite this confusion about the legal standard, Friedman and others have already been able to permanently remove dozens of books from Clay County school libraries."

Lessons Learned from Our Classroom Censorship Win Against Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act  11/29/2022 ACLU: "In response to our lawsuit, Florida terrifyingly asserted that it had the absolute right to control what educators can teach because it is government speech, noting that university professors are public employees. This claim contradicts the longstanding recognition that academic freedom is a “special concern” of the First Amendment. In the university setting, this means the First Amendment protects universities’ and professors’ right to make teaching choices without government censorship targeting disfavored viewpoints. The state’s position that university instructors are “simply the state’s mouthpieces” could have dangerous consequences, including allowing the state to literally dictate lessons and have educators simply read from a script."

With a nod to '1984,' a federal judge blocks Florida's anti-'woke' law in colleges  11/18/2022 NPR: ""The State of Florida's decision to choose which viewpoints are worthy of illumination and which must remain in the shadows has implications for us all," Walker wrote. "But the First Amendment does not permit the State of Florida to muzzle its university professors, impose its own orthodoxy of viewpoints, and cast us all into the dark."

Pranks, Parties and Politics: Ron DeSantis’s Year as a Schoolteacher  11/5/2022 NYT: "“Mr. Ron, Mr. DeSantis, was mean to me and hostile toward me,” said Ms. Pompey, who graduated in 2003. “Not aggressively, but passively, because I was Black.” She recalled Mr. DeSantis teaching Civil War history in a way that sounded to her like an attempt to justify slavery. “Like in history class, he was trying to play devil’s advocate that the South had good reason to fight that war, to kill other people, over owning people — Black people,” she said. “He was trying to say, ‘It’s not OK to own people, but they had property, businesses.’” ...Another student who requested anonymity because he feared repercussions for his job said Mr. DeSantis’s takes on the Civil War were the subject of so much talk that students made a satirical video about him at the time for the video yearbook. The video, which was reviewed by The Times, includes a short snippet in which a voice purporting to be Mr. DeSantis is heard saying: “The Civil War was not about slavery! It was about two competing economic systems."

Governor Ron DeSantis Counteracts Malign Influence by China and Other Hostile Nations in Florida through New Action  9/22/2022 State of Florida: "“Thanks to Governor DeSantis, Florida will not allow foreign adversaries and Communist dictatorships to have insights into some of the most sensitive data and cutting-edge research taking place in U.S. academia,” said Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. “As a Cuban-American, I know how Communist countries attempt to infiltrate schools and universities to steal intellectual property and indoctrinate young people with their dangerous and radical ideology. By removing this influence and focusing on the importance of American ideals and citizenship through civics education, Florida is again leading the way for the nation to follow.”" [The actions against Russia are in name only, as like many Republicans, DeSantis has a taste for Russian oligarch money.]

Neo-Marxing the College Board with AP African American Studies  9/12/2022 National Review: "Although K–12 teachers and academic consultants working with the College Board have publicly denied that AP African American Studies (APAAS) either pushes an ideological agenda or teaches critical race theory, those denials are false. APAAS clearly proselytizes for a socialist transformation of the United States, although its socialism is heavily inflected by attention to race and ethnicity. Even if there were no laws barring such content, states and local school districts would have every right to block APAAS as antithetical to their educational goals."

'The Stop WOKE Act': HB 7, Race, and Florida's 21st Century AntiLiteracy Campaign  9/1/2022 University of Florida: "Florida’s Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act (Stop WOKE) took effect July 1, 2022. The new law, known as House Bill 7 (HB 7), regulates how race issues can be taught in the K-20 educational system and imposes stiff sanctions for violations. This Article provides an incisive analysis of HB 7, with a particular focus on the law school classroom. It begins with a discussion of anti-literacy laws adopted during slavery and how these laws prohibited enslaved Blacks from learning to read and write. The historical analysis establishes that HB 7 is a modern-day iteration of anti-literacy laws. While early anti-literacy laws prohibited basic literacy, HB 7 prohibits teaching substantive literacy about race. Anti-literacy provides a framework for understanding the breadth and impact of HB 7. The Article investigates HB 7 through two prominent theoretical lenses, racial threat and critical race theory. These analyses predict and explain legislative responses such as HB 7. Through a series of hypotheticals, the far-reaching problems of HB 7 are revealed. This Article establishes the broad powers of HB 7. At full bore, HB 7 will drastically reduce race-related instruction and in doing so, it will likely delegitimize race scholarship and race scholars in the state of Florida."

Critical Race Theory: My concern for public education in Florida  7/6/2022 Tallahassee Democrat: "Consider the wealth gap between Black and white Americans. Rather than recognizing how generational wealth and income inequality affect wages, it will be credited to Black Americans being lazier, having unskilled jobs, and being uneducated. Would these instances not make Black students feel the mental distress that the bill attempts to prevent?"

DeSantis endorsement of Bryan Avila  5/16/2022 Bianca Padró Ocasio, Twitter: "Not surprisingly, Miami Rep. Bryan Avila, who sponsored Florida's HB 7 (so-called "anti-woke" law), gets DeSantis endorsement in FL Senate race for Sen. Manny Diaz Jr.'s current seat."

Senador Manny Díaz es el primer hispano a cargo de la educación en Florida  4/29/2022 SwissInfo: "Recibió su licenciatura de la Universidad de St. Thomas, obtuvo una maestría en Educación en Nova Southeastern University, y completó un programa para directores de la Escuela de Graduados en Educación de Harvard."

Gov. DeSantis anti-WOKE rally with his education commissioner choice, Sen. Manny Diaz.  4/22/2022 CBS News: [Featuring Congressman Diaz Balart, State Sen Ileana Garcia, former State Sen Manny Diaz, Cuban American activists,and the creator of the anti-crt movement, Christopher Rufo.]

DeSantis recommends Sen. Manny Diaz for education commissioner  4/21/2022 Palm Beach Post: "Diaz co-sponsored a measure that passed the Legislature this past session, but has yet to be signed into law by DeSantis, to set guidelines around discussions teachers and businesses can have about race. The bill was pushed by DeSantis as a means to fight critical race theory and passed the Florida Senate on a party-line vote last month. The legislation bars instruction to make members of a race feel guilty for past actions committed by people of that same race, and bars teaching that meritocracy is racist. It also expands language in state law on requiring teaching on the history of slavery and racial oppression."

Departamento de Educación de Florida rechaza libros por incluir teoría crítica de la raza  4/21/2022 Cubadebate: "El Departamento de Educación de Florida rechazó más de 50 libros de texto de matemáticas para el próximo año escolar, alegando que los materiales didácticos incorporaron la “teoría crítica de la raza” y la “adición no solicitada” de conceptos de aprendizaje socioemocional."

How Florida’s ‘anti-woke’ bill could impact public universities  4/16/2022 Tampa Bay Times: "That virtues such as merit, excellence, hard work, fairness, neutrality, objectivity and racial colorblindness are racist or sexist, or were created by members of a particular race, color, sex or national origin to oppress members of another race, color, sex or national origin."

FL Legislature stuck last-minute policy changes to HB 7; critics call it a ‘huge problem’  3/14/2022 Florida Phoenix: "“So basically it took a bill, turned it on its head and basically said ‘oh if you have a complaint, if you believe that a higher education institution, for example, taught history or taught racism in a way that made you feel uncomfortable, in violation of the Stop WOKE Act, you can bring that complaint to a political committee of the Florida Legislature.’ I say political because it is made up of politicians with Republicans in the majority. That committee will be the judge, jury, and executioner on all violations of House Bill 7.”"

Florida GOP lawmakers pass bill to limit discussion of race  3/10/2022 LA Times: "Republican Sen. Manny Diaz, a Cuban American who sponsored the bill, said people in Cuba are told what to think and that shouldn’t happen in the United States."

State Senator Manny Diaz Jr. On Critical Race Theory Afro Latino scholars and activists slam Gov. DeSantis' dissection of AP African American studies  2/14/2022 CBS: "CBS4's Facing South Florida host Jim DeFede inteviews State Senator Manny Diaz Jr. He spoke about critical race theory."

After fiery debate, ‘Individual Freedom’ bill banning ‘woke’ lessons in schools, businesses heads to House floor  2/9/2022 Florida Politics: "Its sponsor, Rep. Bryan Ávila of Miami Springs, acknowledged the bill “brings out a lot of passion” but insisted its aim was not to discriminate."

Freedom from discomfort or a knowledge ban? ‘Individual freedom’ bill covering schools, businesses moves in House  1/26/2022 Florida Politics: "Ávila and Republican Rep. Mike Beltran of Lithia repeatedly insisted the bill would not stop the instruction of difficult historical subjects including slavery, the Holocaust or internment camps. The bill only requires they be taught objectively, and that teachers not wander from the approved curriculum."

Black lawmakers hammer Ileana Garcia over ‘deeply hurtful’ race comments  1/20/2022 Politico: "Jones said he sees specific examples of racism in policies being pushed by DeSantis and Republican leadership, including those aimed at critical race theory and “anti-riot” legislation lawmakers passed last year. DeSantis said that anti-riot measure was designed to crack down on violent demonstrations, but he faced loud criticism from groups who said it would criminalize the type of mostly peaceful protests that broke out nationally after an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, was killed by police. “If racism was dead in America, the governor wouldn’t be pushing the banning of teaching of American (Black) history,” Jones said. “Or they wouldn’t be pushing how Blacks can protest.”"

Fla. State Sen. Ileana Garcia On Critical Race Theory: 'I Have Been Discriminated On All Fronts. Should We Take It Personally?'  1/18/2022 CBS: "DeFede asked her, "You don't think that the African American experience today is different than the experience by either yourself or someone like me.?" Garcia said, "No, not at all. As a matter of fact... That's why we had Obama as a president. That's the best example in the world. Obama was president now for four years for eight." Senate sponsor Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, told reporters after the committee meeting: "The intention of the bill … is to make sure that these trainings that occur are objective, and that we're not finding a person guilty of something just because of their ethnic background or the color of their skin. I think that we have to go back to the premise that all of us are created equal, and we should be judged on our individual merits, or deeds, not a blanket statement."

‘People should move on’: Ileana Garcia says racism isn’t an issue because Barack Obama was President  1/17/2022 Florida Politics: "“Garcia was elected by 34 votes thanks to an illegal ghost candidate scheme by an indicted Republican operative and, on #MLK weekend, she says there’s no discrimination against Black People in America, then tweets about dog discrimination,” documentarian Billy Corben wrote."

Llaman estúpido a gobernador de la Florida por oponerse a la enseñanza de la “teoría del racismo”  12/16/2021 EL SANFELIPEÑO: "Dado que en la mayoría de las escuelas de Florida no se estudia esta teoría, los legisladores demócratas del estado denunciaron la propuesta de DeSantis el miércoles, alegando que era un acto de “estupidez”, según POLITICO. El senador estatal Shevrin Jones (demócrata por Miami Gardens) dijo que era “desconcertante” que los republicanos afirmen que la teoría crítica de la raza está dividiendo a la nación cuando “encabezaron toda una insurrección” el 6 de enero. “Me niego a sentarme y ver a personas que no han tenido una experiencia vivida en mi piel para usarnos como su chivo expiatorio político”, escribió Jones en Twitter."

Florida State Board of Education Bans the Use of Critical Race Theory in Schools  6/10/2021 Ed Week: "Lessons that deal with critical race theory and the “1619 Project” are not welcome in Florida’s public schools following a State Board of Education vote on Thursday."

State Sen. Manny Díaz accused of inappropriate behavior as Hialeah-Miami Lakes teacher  1/14/2021 Miami Herald: "JennyLee Molina, a 2000 graduate of Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High when Díaz was a teacher there, accused Díaz of making inappropriate comments about drugs and clubbing to students, as well as on girls’ appearances, allegations that two other former students largely corroborated to the Miami Herald."

A South Florida charter school network now runs a small district 500 miles away. Legislators with close financial ties to charters helped make that happen.  8/1/2019 WLRN: "In particular, Senate education committee chair Manny Diaz, Jr., a Hialeah Republican, helped secure legislation and funding in 2017 that aided Somerset’s efforts in Jefferson County. Then a committee chairman in the state House of Representatives, Diaz was instrumental in making the district’s transition to charter schools possible."

DeSantis Wrote Book Excusing Slavery, Complaining About Women's Rights  10/9/2018 Miami New Times: "DeSantis also incorrectly claims in the book that the Three-Fifths Compromise — the heinous law that counted black people as three-fifths of a human for purposes of representation in Congress — "benefited anti-slavery states." This is simply inaccurate: Blacks at the time could not vote, but the provision gave slave-holding states extra representatives in Congress."

DeSantis to name Nuñez as Florida’s first Cuban-American female running mate  9/5/2018 Politico: "Nuñez initially did not want the hassle of running statewide, nor of being vetted for the post of lieutenant governor, but she decided to give it a second look at the urging of one of her closest political allies, Sen. Marco Rubio, in the wake of Democrat Andrew Gillum’s surprising win in his gubernatorial race Aug. 28, according to one knowledgeable source."