Florida HBCU 'Clarifies': Still OK To Say 'Black' During Black History Month. Maybe Even After.
Just a big misunderstanding in a time of DEI panic and crackdowns on universities.
You will all be glad to know that the word “Black” is not actually prohibited for use by educational institutions in the state of Florida during Black History Month. But for a few days over the weekend, it sure seemed like it had been, thanks to a “misinterpretation” of Florida’s stupid 2023 ban on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion And Also Anything Else That Upsets Certain White People.
Golly, a cynical person might say it’s exactly the sort of chilling effect on speech the DEI ban was intended to have, even if it was ultimately corrected. When the state and federal governments decide that damn near any mention of race or inequality (like planting trees in cities) is “illegal DEI,” such overly broad interpretations are almost inevitable. If students at Florida A&M University’s College of Law hadn’t brought the situation to the media, it’s entirely possible the mistake would have gone uncorrected.
When FAMU’s Black Law Students Association was putting together its plans to mark the month, law student Aaliyah Steward says flyers were denied approval by some administrator because they used words that violated the DEI ban: not only “Black,” but also “affirmative action” and “women.” Steward told local TV station WKMG the words were prohibited in both print and broadcast media.
“We couldn’t use the word ‘black’ in Black History Month. We would have to abbreviate it,” she said. “I was very angry and baffled because this is a Historically Black College and University, and for them to say we can’t use the word ‘black’ was kind of insane.”
Worse, when reporters at the TV station asked the university for a statement, somebody in the press office issued a bland, boilerplate statement that didn’t address the specific claims Steward made, instead saying that the university “has consistently been in full compliance with” the state law and follow-up policy rules issued by the State Board of Governors in 2024.
Neither the law nor the regulations actually prohibited the word “Black,” but both laid out bans on spending any funds to promote DEI, including closing diversity offices and shifting employees and funds around to comply with the DEI ban.
The FAMU statement went on with more boilerplate blather about “fostering a campus community that encourages the free exchange of ideas while ensuring an environment of mutual respect, safety, and awareness,” and about free speech, but again, nothing about what Steward said happened.
Yeah, we can see how that statement got sent, too: If the media asks about anything related to DEI, here’s the reply that the lawyers have ready for us to use. Best to be careful, not rock the boat, and try not to have our budget attacked again by the state Lege.
Monday, the university finally caught up to the story, which was going viral because holy crap, now Florida’s banning universities from saying “Black” during Black Histoy Month, but it’s Floriduh, what do you expect?
FAMU administrators explained, belatedly, that an unidentified employee had told the law students to get rid of the terms in their flyer, and acknowledged (without quite saying so explicitly) that the employee was driven by fear of bringing down the million-pound shithammer of state authorities.
Cecil Howard, interim dean of the FAMU College of Law, said in a message to the law school that the recommendation resulted from a “staff-level error — an overly cautious interpretation that went beyond what the law requires.”
“These provisions address the expenditure of state and federal funds on programs that advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion as specifically defined,” Howard said in the statement. “They do not prohibit the use of any word — not ‘Black,’ not ‘women,’ not ‘affirmative action.’ The regulation explicitly protects the speech and expressive activity of student-led organizations.”
Howard also said that Florida A&M President Marva Johnson had double-checked with an expert on higher-education law, who said there’s no restriction on any of the words the employee flagged. Further, Howard said he’ll be meeting with the law school’s comms team to improve its review process, and that for the time being he’ll be taking over final review of materials for student events.
And in a rhetorical flourish that almost perfectly echoed Aaliyah Steward’s complaint to the local TV station, Howard noted that A&M is Florida’s only public HBCU, so don’t worry, that won’t change. “The word ‘Black’ is central to our mission. Compliance with state law will never require us to erase our identity — and this administration will not allow it,” he wrote. He also said he took full responsibility for the confusion over state law and university policy.
That’s all good and proper, but news outlets all over the country have already carried the initial story, and they may or may not run the correction. Weirdly, although WKMG ran a story Monday taking credit for its reporting having brought about the university’s clarification, the original story still hasn’t been updated (as of our posting time) to reflect the clarification; not even a link.
Ms. Steward told the Tampa Bay Times that she’s glad to know that the Black Law Students Association at her Historically Black University can still say “Black” during Black History Month. But she added that she thinks it’s “unfortunate” that the administration only fixed things after attention from the media put pressure on the school. She added that because the administration “virtually ignored” her repeated inquiries about the initial rejection of the flyers, her student group ended up moving its event to nearly the end of the month.
And that, children, is the real moral of the story: Restrictions on speech may include provisions that keep them just barely in line with the First Amendment, but that doesn’t mean they won’t result in clampdowns that go far beyond the letter of the law. Authoritarianism relies on people complying in advance, as that unfortunate staffer did.
And now, all over Florida, even if the official word circulates, there will be no end of confusion in public schools and elsewhere. People who heard about the FAMU story on social media or who completely missed the correction will shake their heads and remain certain that you no longer can say “Black” during Black History Month.
It’s not at all difficult to suspect — and yes, this is mere speculation — that somewhere down the line, some public school teacher is going to tell students they absolutely cannot say “Black” on a poster or in an assignment, because that’s the law, you know. Maybe it’ll make news, or maybe not. There will be more of this, and that’s really the point of such laws.
[WKMG / Tampa Bay Times (archive link) / WKMG / Tallahassee Democrat (archive link)]
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If it looks like a nazi, walks like a nazi, and quacks like a nazi, then it probably is a nazi, sir !
"Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) forced Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to admit that his agency uses the same tactics as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union"
https://www.rawstory.com/ice-director-agents-like-nazis/
During a Tuesday House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Goldman pointed out that ICE agents were "asking people walking on the streets of America to show proof of citizenship."
"Do you know what other regimes in the 20th century required similar proof of citizenship?" the lawmaker wondered.
"Sir, there were various nefarious regimes that did that," Lyons said.
"Is Nazi Germany one?" Goldman asked.
"Yes," Lyons stated.
"Is the Soviet Union one?" Goldman pressed.
"Yes, sir, but I totally — This is the wrong type of question!" Lyons exclaimed.
The New York Democrat noted. "The problem is you have it backwards, sir. "If you don't want to be called a fascist regime or secret police, then stop acting like one," he added. "But people are simply just observing what they are seeing"
This looks like social-rhetorical theory to me. If only we had an expert on this subject around here...