Responding to backlash over Florida banning a high school advanced placement course on African American history, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis lashed out, saying part of the reason it was banned is it includes “indoctrination” on “queer theory.”
Standing in a school classroom at a podium with a sign that reads, “Florida, the education state,” DeSantis defended the move to block the Black history class while not banning any others.
Acknowledging that “in the state of Florida, our education standards not only don’t prevent but they require teaching Black history, all the important things as part of our core curriculum,” DeSantis called the class “a separate course on top of that for Advanced Placement credit.”
“The issue is we have guidelines and standards in Florida,” he proclaimed, as does every other state in the nation. “We want education, not indoctrination. If you fall on the side of indoctrination, we’re going to decline. If it’s education, then we will do.”
“So when I heard it, we didn’t meet the standards. I figured, yeah, they may be doing…” he said as his voice trailed off. “It’s way more than that,” DeSantis warned.
“This course on Black history. What are one of what’s one of the lessons about? Queer theory,” he criticized.
“Now who would say that an important part of Black history is ‘queer theory”?” DeSantis said mockingly, not recognizing that LGBTQ people are an integral and important part of all races and cultures. The Florida GOP governor has a history of trying to erase LGBTQ people, especially from public school curriculums with his “Don’t Say Gay“ law.
“That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids and so when you look to see they have stuff about ‘intersectionality,’ abolishing prisons, that’s a political agenda,” he insisted.
“And so we’re on, that’s the wrong side of the line for Florida standards. We believe in teaching kids facts and how to think, but we don’t believe they should have an agenda imposed on them. When you try to use Black history to shoehorn in queer theory, you are clearly trying to use that for political purposes.”
Governor DeSantis studied history at Yale and taught history at a private college prep school in Georgia.
Last week White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blasted DeSantis, saying, “let’s not forget,” Florida “didn’t block AP European History. They didn’t block our music history. They didn’t block our art history. But the state chooses to block a course that is meant for high-achieving high school students to learn about the history of arts and culture.”
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