DeSantis Attacks Book-Ban Myths About Florida Schools, Branding Them ‘Hoaxes’
At Florida Gov. On March 8th, Ron DeSantis held a press conference in Tampa. A staffer arrived twice prior to the event. Once to warn people that an upcoming clip might offend.
Her mother said that the party was just about to begin and all children should leave. The little boy fled for the doors.
The Epoch Times couldn’t even describe the video because it was so graphically explicit.
DeSantis was trying to show the truth about the problem: these images were taken from children’s books on sexuality, homosexuality and transgenderism. They can be found in many schools and middle schools throughout Florida.
DeSantis organized the conference in order to clarify what he called “myths” Incorporated into the news media by national news organisations like CBS.
Video footage included Andrea Mitchell from CBS News, Joy Reid, MSNBC and Whoopi Goldberg, both on ABC’s. “The View.”
It is a matter of controversy whether public schools should teach sexuality or America’s past history of slavery and discrimination.
DeSantis tried to debunk one myth: Florida schools were directed to cover books in classrooms and empty libraries.
A second reason is the Florida ban on children’s books that feature baseball players Hank Aaron or Roberto Clemente, as they discuss their experiences with racism.
The third reason is the Florida ban on instruction in African-American history. This includes discussing slavery and its aftermath.
“A lot of what’s been going on is an attempt to create a political narrative,” DeSantis said. “And it’s a false political narrative.”
He set out to rectify the record.
Florida’s Classroom Bookshelves were Empty
DeSantis claimed that it didn’t.
Duval County Teacher posted video of empty shelves and was fired.
The vast majority of the books were taken from media centres, not classrooms. In Duval County, 19 titles were pulled. “not even close to a whole classroom library,” He stated.
Parents complain about titles being taken “Gender Queer: A Memoir” Maia Kobabe “Flamer” Mike Curato “This Book is Gay” Juno Dawson; David Levithan “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships and Being A Human” Erika Moen & Matthew Nolan
The four discuss or graphically illustrate sex acts and their various forms. Others provide detailed instructions.
DeSantis stated that Florida has been prohibiting adults from showing pornography to children for a long time.
“Some of the stuff you saw up there is pornographic. Why would we have that in a media center with 10-year-old students?”
DeSantis, as he was known to do often reminded his audience that Casey and he have two small children.
“We have a 6, a 4, and a 2-year-old at home. I just think parents—when they’re sending their kids to school—they should not have to worry about this garbage being in the schools.”
“They should just know that you’re going to get a good education.”
Manny Diaz, State Education Commissioner joined DeSantis on the podium.
“One of these stories, as the governor mentioned, is the Roberto Clemente book, which is a 40-page picture book about baseball and the life of Roberto Clemente, really an American hero,” Diaz said.
“Not only on the field but for his endeavors in his humanitarian missions.”
“So I wrote a letter to the superintendent and said, ‘What are you doing with this book with Roberto Clemente? This book needs to be put back on the shelves. It’s necessary for our students.’
“They said the book had been approved the following morning, and the Hank Aaron book got approved.
“So you see that all they’re doing is trying to use this to create lies and attack our governor. What is true, however, is that pornography is absolutely prohibited from our school libraries.”
“The Department of Education has never instructed any district or school to empty or cover bookshelves,” Diaz added that books are not banned by the state.
A false report claimed the state had banned the famed novel “To Kill A Mockingbird,” “only to find out from our response that it’s actually on the recommended list of reading for our students in Florida,” Diaz said.
DeSantis claimed that Diaz’s team contacted Duval County. “said, ‘Hey, wait a minute, you have a beef with Hank Aaron or Roberto Clemente? Where are you getting this? Why can’t we learn about that? Where in our law does it—?’ and of course, they didn’t have an answer.
“Also [they] said, ‘No, no, no, we’re not taking Hank Aaron out. Roberto Clemente will not be taken out.
“You know, if our kids only learned about Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron, I think they’d probably do okay if you just study their lives,” Former Yale pitcher said something about two of their ground-breaking heroes.
“So that’s a hoax.”
Florida Ban African-American Studies
DeSantis stated that his administration had actually strengthened the curriculum that required the teaching of African history and slavery.
He stated that among other events, the students added the 20 Ocoee Election Day Riot as an event they must learn.
A white mob attacked black homes and buildings in Ocoee (a small town close to Orlando) and killed between 30 and 35 people.
Online accounts indicate that those from the south were killed later or expelled by violence threats.
According to the governor’s offices, coverage must include the African history prior to American political conflicts; their journey to America; slavery experience; abolition and history and contributions to American society by the African diaspora.
A curriculum for Advanced Placement African-American History was rejected by the state. This course is sponsored and run by College Board.
DeSantis claimed that Florida opposed it because of the alleged ideology indoctrination. One unit dealt with Black Queer Studies. A quote was taken from the syllabus.
“Quote—’We have to encourage and develop practices whereby queerness isn’t surrendered to the status quo of race, class, gender, and sexuality. It means building forms of queerness that reject the given realities of the government and the market.’
“And now I am thinking, “Why aren’t we talking Frederick Douglass?” What are we not talking about that really matters to me?”
“This was largely informed, I’d say, by Neo-Marxism. It is a strong, ideologically-oriented ideology. That is something we don’t plan to do.
DeSantis talked about his Stop WOKE Act, which pushes back against the use of radical approaches like critical race theory in public school curriculums.
Among its provisions is requiring the teaching of inspirational stories regarding Floridians, particularly African-Americans, “and I think that’s a better way to lift people up, to showcase people who have defied the odds and made great contributions.
“Don’t tell somebody, ‘You’re oppressed, and you have no chance in life.’ Why would you work hard if you don’t?”
“It’s a positive view. It’s showing that people have been able to break down barriers and do great things. And I think that is the way we need to be doing it, rather than always trying to say that the country is bad.”
The Stop WOKE Act prohibits teaching children they are inherently racist based on their race, color, or national origin, DeSantis said.
“Does anyone think that babies are born racist? I don’t think so. I think they’re told either to respect people or not.”
The Act also bans teaching that concepts like hard work and merit are racist, he said. “In reality, we believe merit and hard work are important so that people are able to pursue happiness.”
“You have somebody in a classroom. Now go back 200 years. Someone may look like them. They are not responsible—some first grader sitting in the classroom—for that.”
The act bans instruction on collective guilt for acts committed in the past.
“It’s wrong to identify somebody who’s just a young kid going to school and saying they’re guilty of things that they had nothing to do with.”
Also joining DeSantis at the podium were concerned parents and school board members.
Transparency in Schools
“CRT does not belong in the schools,” said Tia Bess, an African-American farmer with three children in northeast Florida.
She talked about being called “a token person, which is a racial slur,” because she started questioning the Duval County school board on that and other subjects, such as strict Covid masking policies for schoolchildren.
“I was labeled, not just a troublemaker, but someone who was considered an Uncle Tom. This is my country. My father fought in Korea and he didn’t fight for this type of America.”
“I speak of this as a woman of color because we’re taught that if you look like me, you have to vote Democrat. We’re taught that in schools.
“We’re taught that Republicans only care about the rich. Republicans are only white and well-off. That’s incorrect. That’s misinformation.”
In a humorous aside to DeSantis, she said she hadn’t voted for him in his first run for governor because she was previously a lifelong Democrat.
Now, she said, “we need more people in office just like Governor DeSantis that supports parental rights, that supports transparency in education.”
Mother’s Concern Over Topics
Julie Gebhards, a mother of six, said she’s a regular speaker at Hillsborough County School Board meetings. She appreciated, “the opportunity to speak in a setting where I don’t believe my mic will be turned off.”
She said her concerns over books used in the schools began three years ago when her 15-year-old daughter asked her to buy a book for the daughter’s English class.
“No one could have prepared me for the review I found online,” which said the book contained graphic detail about prostitution, incest, rape, pornography, nudity, and worse, Gebhards said.
As she dug into the school district’s literary offerings, she kept finding worse and worse books, some of which she described in her speech.
The district has 400 copies of books by one author, “all with the same themes, glamorizing drugs, sex, self-harm, and suicidal ideation.”
She found one depicting a satanic orgy, she said.
Gebhards said that local school authorities, including a committee formed to review some of the books, refused to remove them.
“It is simply a lie to say these books are being banned. Like every school in America is banning Playboy, right? Let’s hope so. This is about discretion. Schools should not be able to approve harmful literature,” she said.
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