Florida, Being Florida, Won’t Get Rid of ‘Slavery was Good’ History Lessons

In a completely unsurprising decision, the Florida Board of Education approved a few revisions to the state’s standards for teaching Black history by watering down slavery as something “beneficial” to our enslaved ancestors.

The board published their Social Studies standards and benchmarks “with clarifications” for 2024. To add a little razzle dazzle, the document begins with a quote from Frederick Douglass:

“To deny education to any people is one of the greatest crimes against human nature…”

Well, if that’s the case, it’s certainly hypocritical to follow Gov. Ron “slavery wasn’t that bad” DeSantis’ lead on how to teach Black history given the ways he’s tried to dilute it to avoid “white guilt.”

According to the standards, the board approved for students to learn that out of the 400 years of forced labor, inhumane living conditions, senseless violence and psychological abuse, somehow “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Y’all act like they had a choice.

Aside from the “benefits” of slavery, there was also a clarification regarding lessons on white mob-led riots such as the Ocoee massacre in 1920 and Tulsa massacre in 1921, which the board characterized as “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”

What do you mean by African Americans? Did the Black residents of Tulsa wake up one day and decide to burn their own city down? We’re not the only ones asking questions: A teachers union had some feedback for the board in a meeting Wednesday night.

“That is a concern, as well as making sure that our students have a complete and honest history around both the African American experience and all experiences in our country,” said Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar via Orlando Weekly.

This is the latest development since the College Board rejected the AP African American Studies course pitched last year because it was “contrary to Florida law” (or more like contrary to DeSantis’ war against woke-ism).

On behalf of the teacher’s union, Spar urged the board to reconsider the language by talking with teachers about the standards despite the assertion the standards were crafted with input from educators, per Orlando Weekly’s report.

Now, students must go another year learning their ancestors somehow benefited from being sold and slain.