Opinion: If we follow DeSantis, we will set country back 100 years

[marmar]

By Maureen Downey, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3 hours ago

Anthony E. Dixon is a public historian, archivist, lecturer and author with a career focus on the African Diaspora. He has conducted lectures, served as a panelist, researched and published pertinent information concerning the African Diaspora. In this guest column, Dixon warns the education policies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will set us back 100 years.

Born in Georgia, Dixon now resides in Orlando, Florida, and has authored several publications, including “Florida’s Negro War: Black Seminoles and the Second Seminole War 1835-1842? and “A Timeline of the African Diaspora Experience in Florida.”


By Anthony E. Dixon

Black history is American history. There is no way to undo the connection. No policy, law or proclamation can change that fact. The 2022 anti-woke law enacted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asserts itself into the teaching of Black history and appears to be part of a concerted effort to minimize the accomplishments of Blacks while presenting history in a manner that sanitizes many aspects of America’s sordid racial past.

DeSantis states Black history is already being taught in public schools. As a former member of Florida’s Commissioner of Education’s African American History Task Force, I can assure you this is a misleading statement.

A Florida statute passed in 1994 requires the inclusion of the history, culture, experiences and contributions of African Americans in the K-12 curriculum. However, like all laws, it is only as good as it is enforced. To this day, only 11 of 67 Florida counties follow the curriculum benchmarks set by the task force while the task force itself now has eight vacancies that have yet to be appointed by DeSantis.

....(snip)....

What the governor should state is that he supports the generalization of Black history within the larger topics of American history. He has expanded this concept to a national level by challenging the AP African American studies curriculum to eliminate cross-cultural analysis. Cross-cultural analysis opens the door for understanding and empathy … not sympathy, but empathy. Generalization lacks the ability to provide a more cultural understanding of the Black experience. A more cultural understanding would ultimately lead to a more culturally diverse community that will become more inclusive. This inclusivity is what DeSantis ultimately opposes. ...........(more)

https://www.ajc.com/education/get-schooled-blog/opinion-if-we-follow-desantis-we-will-set-country-back-100-years/OY37ZWLLXFDIFLSAWECPUIV6A4/

[friend of a friend]

1. Way more than 100 years.

[area51]

2. +1 n/t