Ron DeSantis's Drunk Black History

His 'curriculum' includes racism and homophobia!

Predictably, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has defended the state education department's decision to reject an Advanced Placement course on African American Studies. His argument contained his usual combination of rightwing propaganda and outright lies.

“Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL): “We wanna do history — that’s what our standards for Black history are. It's just cut and dry history … I view it as American history. I don’t view it as separate history.””

— The Recount (@The Recount) 1674489667 

DeSantis insisted that Florida loves them some Black history but he was shocked and appalled by this proposed AP course's curriculum.

“This course, when I heard it, didn’t meet the standards. I figured, ‘Yeah, they may be doing CRT,’” DeSantis told reporters in Jacksonville. “It’s way more than that. This course on Black history, what [is] one of the lessons about? Queer theory." He made sure to say "queer theory" with the utmost contempt, like it was a section on Black folks who'd spotted UFOs. "Now, who would say that’s an important part of Black history, queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids.”

The existence of Black queer people is not an "agenda," but this is the same guy who cozies up to that Libs of Tik Tok bigot. 

PREVIOUSLY:

 Florida Will Shrink Black History Until It's Small Enough To Drown In Ron DeSantis's Bathtub 

 Ron DeSantis Cancels 'Un-American' African American Studies AP Classes, F*ck You Is Why 

 Ron DeSantis Fights For Free Speech By Banning Teachers Mentioning Slavery And Gay People 

 The description of the Black Queer Studies segment would admittedly frighten people like DeSantis: "This topic explores the concept of the queer of color critique, grounded in Black feminism and intersectionality, as a Black studies lens that shifts sexuality studies toward racial analysis." So many scary words!

The curriculum includes texts by such Black scholars as Cathy Cohen, Roderick Ferguson, and E. Patrick Johnson. Johnson, dean of the School of Communication at Northwestern University, explained that "James Baldwin and Audre Lorde, as well as a host of others, are the progenitors of what is now Black Queer Theory."

The press secretary for Equality Florida, Brandon Wolf, agrees, adding with all due shade, "It sounds like Ron DeSantis would himself benefit from taking AP African American Studies, as he has no knowledge of the critical role that queer people have played in Black history in our country. Bayard Rustin, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many others helped shape American history, and learning about the contributions of Black LGBTQ people absolutely has educational value, despite the governor’s objections.”

Bayard Rustin was an influential civil right leader who organized Freedom Rides, the Southern Leadership Conference, and the March on Washington. His sexuality is why he mostly remained behind the scenes. It's not immaterial. Bigots throughout history oppress marginalized groups but resent that this very oppression and marginalization is part of history.

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“We wanna do history — that’s what our standards for Black history are. It's just cut and dried history," DeSantis continued, as if he's never taken an actual history class. I recall a professor at my hardly woke alma mater explaining how history was like the movie Rashomon . There is no single, objective account. There are multiple perspectives, but that's beyond DeSantis's comprehension.

I still encounter white folks with post-graduate degrees who never learned about the Tulsa Race Massacre until HBO's "Watchmen" series.They have taken multiple history courses throughout their academic careers and yet their understanding of Black people's role in US history is like that Chris Rock routine where every answer is "Martin Luther King!" 

"You learn all the basics. You learn all the great figures," DeSantis said without any apparent self-awareness regarding who has historically determined just what are the "basics" and who are the supposed "great figures" in US history. "I view it as American history. I don't view it as separate history."

Literal segregation was the law of the land until the mid-1960s. That tends to impact history. But, there it is: DeSantis sounds like one of those "why do we have a separate month for Black history?" Republicans from before he was born. It's like DeSantis shares the politics and ill-fitting suit of a man long dead.

"We have history of lot of different shapes and sizes," he said. "People that have participated to make the country great. People that have stood up when it wasn't easy. They all deserve to be taught."

That's touching, though we all know that when Ron DeSantis talks about historical figures who've "stood up when it wasn't easy," he doesn't mean radical feminists or queer civil rights activists. He'd probably tolerate a Black history course with a section devoted to Clarence Thomas and the character Samuel L. Jackson played in Django Unchained .

[ The Advocate ]

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