In response to the immense backlash and recent accusations of whitewashing slavery, the members of the workgroup, who are responsible for crafting Florida's new African-American history standards, firmly deny any intention of suggesting that African Americans gained benefits from slavery.
The ‘Resilience’ of the Enslaved
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Workgroup members asserted that their intention was to make Florida students comprehend that those who endured slavery were truly ‘resilient.’ They managed to enhance their lives using the skills they gained through training, ingenuity, and the wisdom and knowledge handed down by their ancestors.
A Plan To Hide Horryfing History
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The state board of education recently granted approval to the African-American history standards, an extensive compilation of almost 200 items covering more than 70 pages in a 216-page document detailing broader social studies standards.
Specific lines in the standards have been brought to attention by Democratic politicians like Harris, suggesting that Florida plans to hide the real and horrifying side of slavery from students.
The ‘Personal Benefit’ Controversy
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The particular standard that has sparked the debate states that students should examine “the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g. agriculture work, painting, carpentry tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation).”
The focus of criticism lies on a follow-up clarification, which specifies that instruction should cover "how slaves developed skills that, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."
A Big Step Backward
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The Florida Education Association, strongly criticized the new standards, describing them as "a big step backward for a state that has required teaching African American history since 1994."
Accusations of Spreading ‘Lies’
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The standards “teach students that some Black people benefited from slavery because it taught useful skills,” as reported by NBC News. However, Harris asserted that the standards reveal Florida's plan to "replace history with lies.”
“This is unnecessary to debate whether enslaved people benefitted from slavery. Are you kidding me?” she argued. “Adults know what slavery really involved. It involved some of the worst examples of depriving people of humanity in our world.”
Addressing Criticism
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In a tweet, Manny Diaz, Florida's commissioner of education, defended the new standards by asserting, “Florida is focused on teaching true and accurate African American history.”
The Real Intention
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According to the National Review, two individuals among the 13-member workgroup that formulated the standard have both expressed disagreement with the vice president's interpretation.
The intention of it was, African Americans, slaves, my ancestors, they were resilient people,” stated Valencia Robinson, an educator teaching African-American history and English in Volusia County on Florida's east coast.
Skills Were Used to ‘Earn Extra Money’
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Robinson said that people who were enslaved endured demanding work "sun up to sun down" in different tasks. Nonetheless, some of them were able to leverage the skills they honed to earn ‘extra money’ and provide for themselves and their families.
African American Success Story
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As explained by William B. Allen, a professor and dean emeritus at Michigan State University, and former chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the line in question is about individuals like Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington.
Those people gained skills “under adverse circumstances, or who came with skills that enabled them to not only survive adverse circumstances, but also to go onto further accomplishments.”
Ideological Battles
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“Why then are they doing that? Well, it’s part of the zeitgeist,” Allen, who argues that the standard is being deliberately misinterpreted, said. “Anything that can be used to prosecute a culture war, and to continue to sew division as a wedge or leverage point to work the transformation of American society will be exploited for that end. So, that’s what we see them doing. It’s a kind of ideological posturing.”
Giving Voice to the Enslaved
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Allene stressed that one of the primary purposes of the standards is to give a voice to the people who were enslaved, allowing them to share their own stories. “If they say they were able to accomplish things despite slavery, then we need to repeat what they said,” he said, pointing out that Frederick Douglass learned to read from his slave mistress, until her husband intervened.
“He exploited that opportunity to his own advantage,” Allen continued. “That doesn’t mean he benefitted from slavery. But it does mean he acquired a skill from which he benefitted while enslaved.”
Letting History Speak
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As a Florida native, Allen asserted that he has never had a chance to meet Florida governor Ron DeSantis, and he clarified that DeSantis, despite defending the standards, was not a part of the workgroup's efforts. “What we have done is to insist throughout the whole process that the comprehensive story be told, the truth be told, nothing else but the truth,” he asserted.
The standard
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“It is not our task to pick and choose for the sake of emphasizing pet agendas, but rather to allow the people who lived the history, who lived the experience, to tell their own stories. And that’s what these standards are about.”
African Brilliance Before Slavery
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Samuel Wright, who has been part of the task force for more than ten years, strongly objected to the notion that there could be any benefit to those who were crammed onto ships like sardines, enslaved, and subjected to centuries of oppression. “How in the hell could we benefit from slavery?” he exclaimed.
“We built the pyramids in Africa. People came here with skills,” Wright continued. “We were brilliant people when we left Africa.”
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