Sen. Tim Scott blasts Ron DeSantis over Florida's slavery curriculum
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing escalating heat from black Republicans upset over the state’s new academic curriculum that features lessons on how “enslaved people benefited from slavery.”
“What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating,” South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said during a campaign event in Iowa Thursday.
“So I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that.”
Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, is running against DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
The controversy kicked off earlier this month after the Florida Board of Education approved a new curriculum for African American history which said that were “personal benefits” for enslaved people.
Sen. Tim Scott is the most high-profile black Republican to criticize the Florida’s new slavery curriculum. Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has been flailing. AP
While far-left and liberal voices like Vice President Harris have issued their own predictable denunciations, a growing chorus of black conservatives are also voicing their displeasure.
“The new African-American standards in FL are good, robust, & accurate. That being said, the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted. That obviously wasn’t the goal & I have faith that FLDOE will correct this,” said Rep. Byron Donalds in a Wednesday tweet.
The black Florida congressman is supporting Trump for the 2024 nomination.
The new curriculum also raised hackles among the Black Conservative Federation.
“It raises eyebrows,” Federation president Diante Johnson — who is also backing Trump — told Politico. “Ron DeSantis is not the candidate for Black conservatives and that’s what [he] constantly, constantly exhibits to us.”
There have also been economic consequences for the state. The oldest historically black collegiate fraternity in the U.S, Alpha Phi Alpha, said they would move their 2025 convention from Orlando to another location over what they said was DeSantis’ “harmful, racist and insensitive” policies toward black people.
DeSantis has refused to concede an inch despite mounting criticism.
“Part of the reason our country has struggled is because DC Republicans all too often accept false narratives, accept lies that are perpetrated by the left,” he said Friday.
With Post Wires
Source: New York Post
