Vintage illustration features portraits of African-American heroes, including Blanche Kelso Bruce, Frederick Douglass, and Hiram Rhoades Revels, surrounded by scenes of African-American life in the mid 1800s and portraits of Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and Ulysses S. Grant. Getty Images
Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed into law the Parental Rights in Education Act in 2022. It said that classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity by school officials or third parties is not permitted in kindergarten through third grade or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for pupils in accordance with state standards.
Democrats immediately denounced the new measure as anti-LBGT+ and dubbed it the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.”
Sex education occurs in either the fourth or fifth grade, when students reach puberty. But SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, a non-profit that advocates for comprehensive sexuality education, believes that sex education should begin in kindergarten. Students, in their opinion, should be prepared for the changes that their bodies will go through during puberty.
The Parental Rights in Education Act of Florida didn’t dispute puberty preparation. It simply said that discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity are inappropriate for students in grades K-3.
The real issue was when schools should discuss sexual orientation and gender identity. Should this happen before or during puberty? Republicans in Florida decided it should happen after K-3, but they never said it shouldn’t happen at all.
“Don’t say gay” was a Democratic tactic used to create a nationwide overreaction in order to slow down the Republican overhaul of the state’s educational system.
Republicans in Florida didn’t slow down in 2023. They established new standards for teaching African American history in middle school. This time, Democrats charged Republicans with whitewashing history, but their assertion was as nonsensical as “don’t say gay.”
On the first 20 pages of a 216-page document titled Florida State Academic Standards: Social Studies 2023, African American history lessons and benchmarks are listed. On page 6, it states: Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agricultural work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation). The benchmark stated: Instructions include how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.
Democrats highlighted that benchmark and accused the Republicans of teaching children that African Americans benefited from slavery by treating slavery like a job training program. This time, the Black Conservative Federation was on the Democrats’ side. The BCF stated that the new standards undermine the unimaginable hardships endured by millions of enslaved individuals.
Florida’s new academic standards do not undermine hardships at all.
On page 9, students are instructed to compare slave living conditions in the British North American Colonies, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. The benchmarks focused on harsh conditions such as inadequate nutrition, malnourishment, sickness, hard labor, harsh weather, and infant mortality rates of slaves vs. free people.
The BCF also said, “Attributing their acquired skills as a benefit is an oversimplification and can obscure the true nature of their experiences. Slaves did not have ‘agency!’ They were forced to do jobs without pay. This is not a benefit by any stretch of the imagination.”
Dr. William Allen, former chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights and member of Florida’s African American History Standards workgroup, addressed all of the criticism. He said the new standards never claimed that slavery was beneficial. It is a historical fact that Africans proved resourceful, resilient, and adaptive, and that they were able to develop skills and aptitudes that benefited them both while enslaved and after enslavement.
With that said, to extinguish the negative publicity, Florida’s State Academic Standards for Social Studies in 2023 should add the following benchmark: The instructions will include the “hire-out system” depicted in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This practice was common in the South. Since it was more profitable than selling slaves, slave owners would contract out their slaves. The slaves hired out were skilled laborers. The slave owner kept the majority of the money while allowing the slave to keep a small portion. Many slaves saved enough money to purchase their freedom.
This is an example of how slaves used their skills for personal benefit.
It’s important to note that the BCF also said, “Slaves had no agency.” If the BCF truly believed that notion, they should demand that the Florida State Academic Standards delete lessons about the 1739 Stono Slave Rebellion and the Underground Railroad because rebelling and escaping captivity require agency.
Dr. Allen further stated that attempts to reduce slaves to just victims of oppression fail to recognize their strength and courage. Florida students deserve to learn how slaves took advantage of whatever circumstances there were to benefit themselves.