When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his “Stop Woke Act” into law in 2022, Florida State Senator Bobby Powell issued a statement warning that the bill “essentially prohibits instruction on race relations or diversity that imply a person’s status as either privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by his or her race, color, national origin, or sex.”
Powell said the law “puts our governor’s racial bias on full display.”
“Anti-woke” HB7 is not about “individual freedom.” It was cooked up by Florida’s Governor following the 8 minutes, 46 seconds during which a police officer kneeled on George Floyd’s neck, sparking a powerful wave of protests throughout the nation. pic.twitter.com/BCUoULoT9V
— Senator Bobby Powell, Jr. (@BobbyPowellJr) March 10, 2022
At the time it was clear that DeSantis aimed to eliminate an Advanced Placement African American studies course, prohibiting enrollment in the class because of its race-oriented content. What was unclear was how the new law would impact education more broadly as it took hold, and as various texts and educational materials were revamped to meet the new standards.
Now California Gov. Gavin Newsom has seen some of the broader impact of DeSantis’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act and he is reaching out via Democratic Party channels to rage against the DeSantis effect and show citizens what’s happening.
The following is from an email Newsom sent to ActBlue subscribers. The subject of the email is: Insanity.
If you want to see the outcome of Ron DeSantis’ Stop W.O.K.E. Act, look no further than changes made to a First Grade Social Studies text about Rosa Parks.
Old Version: “The law said African Americans had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted to sit down.”
Changed to: “She was told to move to a different seat because of the color of her skin.”
Further edited to: “She was told to move to a different seat. She did not. She did what she believed was right.”
“That’s right,” Newsom wrote. “[Rosa Parks] was just told to move to a different seat. That’s it. It’s insane.”
“When asked, the publisher said they made the change in response to their ‘interpretation’ of Ron DeSantis’ bill,” Newsom said. The publisher removed reference to the law at the time and reference to Parks’ race and skin color, essentially stripping the inspirational story of historical and moral context.
In State Senator Powell’s early dissent, he warned that DeSantis’ bill “also bans both schools and workplaces from “’subjecting any student or employee to training or instruction that espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such individuals to believe specified concepts constitutes discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin.’”
Newsom also sees how that is manifesting.
The “freedom” state strikes again.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 19, 2023
Florida has just EXPANDED the Don’t Say Gay law.
Acknowledgment of LGBTQ people is banned for ALL K-12 STUDENTS.
This is not about the kids. This is about erasing LGBTQ existence. https://t.co/hAPLBkgKaU
