Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday once again traveled to Florida, and once again responded to GOP Governor Ron DeSantis’ claim there were “benefits” for enslaved people.
On Monday the governor and second-place 2024 presidential candidate sent Vice President Harris a letter inviting her to debate his new Dept. of Education standards that mandate the “personal benefit” narrative.
The Vice President made clear facts are not up for debate.
“Right here in Florida they plan to teach students that enslaved people benefited from slavery,” declared the Vice President, speaking at the 20th Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Quadrennial Convention in Orlando. on Tuesday. “They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, in an attempt to divide and distract our nation with unnecessary debates. And now, they attempt to legitimize these unnecessary debates with a proposal that most recently came in, of a politically motivated round table. Well, I’m here in Florida and I will tell you, there is no round table, no lecture, no invitation we will accept, to debate an undeniable fact: there were no redeeming qualities of slavery.”
In DeSantis’ letter (below), which promotes false right wing narratives, the governor wrote: “We are committed to teaching truth, not partisan narratives. We have rooted out hateful Marxist theories like ‘Critical Race Theory’ from our classrooms. We have eliminated ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ initiatives in school administration and hiring practices. We have, instead, focused on the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, science, civics and history.”
DeSantis claims his policy mandating the teaching of slavery’s “benefits” are “nation-leading standalone African American History standards.”
“One would think the White House would applaud such boldness in teaching the unique and important story of African American History,” he claimed, accusing Harris of attempting “to score cheap political points and label Florida parents ‘extremists.’ It’s past time to set the record straight. In Florida we are unafraid to have an open and honest dialogue about the issues. And you clearly have no trouble ducking down to Florida on short notice. So given your grave concern (which, I must assume, is sincere) about what you think our standards say, I am officially inviting you back down to Florida to discuss our African American History standards. We will be happy to host you here in Tallahassee. I will ask Dr. William Allen – instrumental in the development of our impressive new standards- to join.”
According to Popular Information, Dr. Allen has “a history of making incendiary remarks and a track record of promoting right-wing ideology.”
“In 1989, when he served as chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Allen gave a talk at an anti-gay conference titled ‘Blacks? Animals? Homosexuals? What is a Minority?’ He branded ‘special classes of protection for homosexuals and other minorities as a ‘fatal’ mistake’ that heightens ‘tensions and antagonism’ within society. According to his prepared text, creating legal protections for minority groups ‘is the beginning of the evil of reducing American blacks to an equality with animals and then seducing other groups to seek the same charitable treatment.’ ”
Read DeSantis’ letter below and watch Vice President Harris above, or both at this link.