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A new set of guidelines for how Black history should be taught in the state’s public schools, which the Florida Board of Education adopted, drew criticism from advocates for education and civil rights who believed that pupils should be able to understand the “full truth” of American history.
On Wednesday in Orlando, the board met and approved the curriculum.
The rejection of a preliminary pilot version of an Advanced Placement African American Studies course for high school students by the education department, which it argued lacked educational value, is the most recent step in the state’s ongoing controversy over African American history.
After the state approved new legislation under Gov. Ron DeSantis banning training in schools that implies anyone is privileged or oppressed based on their race or skin color, the new standards were implemented. In the midst of a national debate about how racism and history should be taught in schools, DeSantis has raised his prominence by fighting “wokeness.”
According to a paper outlining the new standards and uploaded on the Florida Department of Education website, middle school students must be taught about “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
The new regulations mandate that information regarding incidents like the 1920 Ocoee Massacre be taught in high schools along with “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” According to numerous accounts of the incident, the massacre began when Moses Norman, a well-known Black landowner in the Ocoee, Florida, neighborhood, tried to cast his ballot but was refused by White poll workers. The tragedy is regarded as the bloodiest Election Day violence in US history.
Lessons regarding other massacres, such as the Rosewood, Tulsa, and Atlanta racial massacres, are acknowledged to follow similar norms.
“Our children deserve nothing less than truth, justice, and the equity our ancestors shed blood, sweat, and tears for,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement condemning the new standards. “It is imperative that we understand that the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow were a violation of human rights and represent the darkest period in American history.”
“We are proud of the rigorous process that the Department took to develop these standards,” Alex Lanfranconi, director of communications for the Florida Department of Education, said in a statement.
“It’s sad to see critics attempt to discredit what any unbiased observer would conclude to be in-depth and comprehensive African American History standards. They incorporate all components of African American History: the good, the bad and the ugly. These standards will further cement Florida as a national leader in education, as we continue to provide true and accurate instruction in African American History,” Lanfranconi said.
The new requirements, according to the statewide teachers’ organization Florida Education Association, are detrimental to kids and “a big step backward for a state that has required teaching African American history since 1994.”
“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? Florida’s students deserve a world-class education that equips them to be successful adults who can help heal our nation’s divisions rather than deepen them,” Andrew Spar, the association’s president, said in a statement. “Gov. DeSantis is pursuing a political agenda guaranteed to set good people against one another, and in the process, he’s cheating our kids. They deserve the full truth of American history, the good and the bad,” Spar added.
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.