Courtesy: Joe Raedle/Getty Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives away a pen after holding a bill signing ceremony at the Florida National Guard Robert A. Ballard Armory on June 7, 2021, in Miami, Florida. DeSantis moved on Thursday to ban critical race theory from being taught in Florida schools.
Florida is the latest state to join the ban on “critical race theory” in the classroom as the Florida State Board of Education unanimously approved the amendment after hours of debate at Thursday’s hearing.
The ban on teaching critical race theory in the classroom is another push forward from Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis against institutional learning that is based on opinion and not “fact.”
Shortly before the meeting, DeSantis spoke in reference to the impending vote noting critical race theory teaches students “the country is rotten and that our institutions are illegitimate… That is not worth any taxpayer dollars.”
The amendment highlights that topics must be “factual and objective” and clearly states that instruction “may not suppress or distort significant historical events, such as the Holocaust, slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the civil rights movement and the contributions of women, African American and Hispanic people to our country.”
Florida joined Arkansas, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Tennessee in passing a legislative measure to ban the curricula in schools, with over 10 other states debating whether or not to ban it.
Opponents of race theory believe that the topic of critical race theory should not be taught in schools because it politicizes the classroom and runs the risk of indoctrinating students to one school of thought.
However, some experts feel as though teaching critical race theory, particularly at the college level, explores the way in which race in the U.S. continues to impact American society.
Kimberlé Crenshaw, a founding critical race theorist and law professor at UCLA and Columbia University, told CNN last year that the attempt to ban and suppress the topic in schools is “an approach to grappling with a history of White supremacy that rejects the belief that what’s in the past is in the past and that the laws and systems that grow from that past are detached from it.”
The topic of race and inequality during the pandemic rose to greater heights with movements such as Black Lives Matter and continues to gain momentum.
But as time continues to pass, more and more states are jumping on the bus to ban the lessons that have been taught for decades.
Gov. Ron DeSantis took to Twitter to announce that the topic is “state-sanctioned racism and has no place in Florida schools.”
The amendment also bans the instructing of material from the 1619 Project and must include “the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments” teaching.
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William is a South Florida native with professional experience writing at the collegiate and national news outlet level. He loves fishing, playing soccer and watching sports in his spare time and is a fan of all South Florida teams.