Article 43
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Democracy Hollowed Out Part 44 - Florida’s WOKE Act
Along with the typical complaints about “pornographic” books, this latest wave of conservatives banning books is remarkable for their anger towards books by and about people of color, or by and about LGBTQ, especially trans people. Texas State Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican, released a list of about 850 books that he wanted to ban from school libraries. He claimed the books make students feel “discomfort” because of their content about race and sexuality. An analysis of Krause’s list by The Dallas Morning News found that of the first 100 titles listed, 97 were written by women, people of color or LGBTQ authors. A common complaint is that these books will make children think about changing themselves, or teaches them “critical race theory. “
- Democracy Hollowed Out - Part 43 - Banning The BibleWhat’s even worse are the social ramifications, such as critical race theory, which emphasizes the differences between race groups, creating actual race hatred. One consequence of the financial and economic upsets will be riots like those of 2020. The mass migration of people from alien cultures who don’t share Western values into the US and Europe is destabilizing. The US has, in fact, become a multicultural domestic empire.
- International Man Interview, April 2021We’ve seen a number of moral panics over the decades, and this one is no different. Come learn how the same old tropes are being recycled to animate this latest strain of American fascism.
- Video - American Fascism and the Groomer Panic
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Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation to Protect Floridians from Discrimination and Woke Indoctrination
Florida Governor
April 22, 2022
HIALEAH GARDENS, Fla. Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed HOUSE BILL (HB) 7, to give businesses, employees, children and families tools to stand up against discrimination and woke indoctrination. The bill includes provisions to prevent discriminatory instruction in the workplace and in public schools and defines Individual freedoms based on the fundamental truth that all individuals are equal before the law and have inalienable rights. This legislation is the first of its kind in the nation to take on both corporate wokeness and Critical Race Theory in schools in one act. Read more HERE.
"No one should be instructed to feel as if they are not equal or shamed because of their race,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “In Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida.”
“By signing this legislation, which is the first in the nation to end corporate wokeness and Critical Race Theory in our schools, we are prioritizing education not indoctrination,” said Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez. “We will always fight to protect our children and parents from this Marxist-inspired curriculum.”
“I am grateful that Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature have taken a stand against discrimination, especially against revisionist history and ideological concepts that are outside Florida’s academic standards,” said Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran. “These dangerous concepts seek to divide Americans, rather than unite them. This legislation affirms that all students, no matter their backgrounds, should be treated as individuals with unique experiences, and that they should be afforded equal opportunities to find success and fulfillment. That’s why the Florida Department of Education is focused on ensuring our classrooms are teaching children how to think, not what to think.”
“Every person is created equal and entitled to their dignity as an individual. We have heard concerns that students and workers are being pushed to adopt the personal or political viewpoints of employers, teachers or textbook authors,” said Senate President Wilton Simpson. This bill protects our individual freedoms and prevents discrimination in public schools and the workplace while supporting factual, educational discussions for our students.”
Today, Florida took an important step to ensure that our schools and workplaces are spaces where we can have healthy instruction and conversation without losing sight that we are first and foremost individuals. Importantly, the bill provides assurance for parents that some of the most difficult lessons about our nationӒs history and current events are taught accurately while treating everyone as individuals, said House Speaker Chris Sprowls. ԓThanks to Speaker pro tempore Avilas great work carrying this bill and Governor DeSantis signing it into law today, FloridaҒs students and employees will be judged as individuals, by their words, character and actions, not simply by their race, sex or national origin.
ԓI want to thank Governor DeSantis for being the most anti-woke governor in our nation, said Senator Manny Diaz, Jr. ԓNo Floridian should ever be subjected to discriminatory content or rhetoric, especially when at school or in the workplace. Florida is committed to objectively teaching our students about important historical facts and events, not indoctrination.
“Critical Race Theory” takes people and segregates them against each other. Individualism is not exclusive for any race, and it is patronizing to say people have different work ethic based on their skin color, said Christopher Rufo, Senior Fellow and Director of the Initiative on Critical Race Theory, The Manhattan Institute. “We are in the initial stages down a dark path, but luckily community leaders have said not in this state, not in this country. I think it is a testament to the legislators in Florida and the greatest Governor in the country right now, standing up to these people. He stood up to the lies, he stood up to the ideologs and he stood up to the big corporations because he is on your side and he’s not going to back down.”
“I would like to extend my gratitude to the Governor for showing the people of Florida what a true statesman looks like,” said Alysha Legge, Mother, Hillsborough County. “You have been a true representative of the people, maintaining our individual liberties and our constitutional principles, not special interests or political ideologies. Can you imagine that my children, who are of various shades of melanin, being told that because they are of lighter skin, they are oppressors or because they are of darker skin, they are oppressed. What does that do to them mentally and emotionally? What does that do to us as a family?”
“There is only so much a great school can insulate, when required English Language Arts curriculum vocabulary textbooks mention racism and bias,” said Christine Chaparro, Mother, Broward County. “My kids were sent home with books that encourage them to research an anti-racism book. These benchmark textbooks are not accurate and not appropriate for public-school education. I have always been involved in my kids’ education, serving as room-mom and sitting on the PTA board, and I know my family isnt alone in looking for alternatives for our kids.”
“Governor DeSantis has again been bold and courageous,” said Quisha King, Mother. It is because of Governor DeSantis’ bold and courageous leadership that we do not have to hear these excuses that Critical Race Theory is not being taught in schools because Governor DeSantis, Chris and all of the parents have been showing you evidence after evidence that this is real, and it is happening to our children. We do not want our children racially segregated and we do not want our children to be looked at through the lens of race. We have taught our kids our values that say do not judge us by the color of our skin, it is simple.
HB 7 protects civil rights in employment and K-20 education by specifying that subjecting an employee or student to a required activity that promotes, advances, or compels individuals to believe discriminatory concepts, constitutes unlawful discrimination.
Concepts constituting unlawful discrimination include:
· That members of one race, color, national origin or sex are morally superior to members of another race, color, national origin or sex.
· A person by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.
· A person’s moral character or status as privileged or oppressed is determined by race, color, national origin or sex.
· A person, by virtue of their race, color, national origin or sex should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment to achieve diversity, equity or inclusion.
The bill also requires instruction, instructional materials, and professional development in public schools to adhere to principles of individual freedom outlined in the bill. Those principles include that no person is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive just by virtue of his or her race or sex and meritocracy or hard work ethic are not racist but fundamental to the right to pursue success.
The bill authorizes discussion of topics such as sexism, slavery, racial oppression, racial segregation, and racial discrimination, in an age-appropriate manner, and in such a way that does not indoctrinate or persuade students to a certain point of view that is inconsistent with the principles of individual freedom.
The bill also expands instruction of African American history to develop students’ understanding of the ramifications of prejudice and racism. Classroom instruction will educate students on what it means to be a respectful and responsible citizen and encourage tolerance of diversity to protect democratic principles that our country is founded on. Schools are required to teach factual information on topics including African American history and the Holocaust instead of subjective indoctrination that pushes collective guilt.
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Pernell v. Florida Board of Governors
ACLU
January 12, 2023
On Thursday, August 18, 2022 the ACLU, ACLU of Florida, Legal Defense Fund and Ballard Spahr filed a lawsuit challenging Florida’s HB7 (aka the Stop W.O.K.E. Act) on behalf of a group of Florida educators and students in higher education.
The Stop W.O.K.E. Act is a classroom censorship law which severely restricts Florida educators and students from learning and talking about issues related to race and gender in higher education classrooms. Florida is one of nearly 20 states across the country that have passed similar laws aimed at censoring discussions around race and gender in the classroom.
The lawsuit argues the Stop W.O.K.E. Act violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments by imposing viewpoint-based restrictions on instructors and students in higher education that are vague and discriminatory. The complaint also argues that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause because it was enacted with a racially discriminatory purpose and will have a disparate impact on Black educators and students.
The groups are asking the court to declare the law unconstitutional under the First and 14th Amendments and are urging the court to issue a preliminary injunction that would put an immediate stop to the bill and allow students and educators to have full and open discussions around race and gender in the classroom.
UPDATE (11/17/22): In an important victory for educators and students’ rights to teach and learn free from censorship and discrimination, a federal judge issued an order that will immediately block Florida’s HB 7 from being enforced in higher education contexts.
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Federal appeals court leaves DeSantis’ anti-’woke’ law blocked in Florida public colleges
By Jack Forrest
CNN
March 17, 2023
A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that a temporary block on a portion of a law pushed by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting what can be taught in Floridas public colleges and universities will remain in place.
The three-judge panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request from the DeSantis administration and officials with the state university system to stay an injunction from US District Judge Mark Walker, who called the law “positively dystopian” in a 138-page order, while the case plays out.
Last April, DeSantis signed into law Florida’s Individual Freedom Act, better known as the “Stop WOKE Act,” but it has faced a number of legal challenges since taking effect on July 1. The law is a key component of DeSantis’ WAR ON WOKE IDEAOLOGY, and was intended to prevent teachings or mandatory workplace activities that suggest a person is privileged or oppressed based necessarily on their race, color, sex or national origin.
With the law, Walker wrote in November that Florida “lays the cornerstone of its own Ministry of Truth under the guise of the Individual Freedom Act” - invoking George Orwell’s novel, “1984.”
“The Court did not rule on the merits of our appeal. The appeal is ongoing, and we remain confident that the law is constitutional,” DeSantisԒ spokesman Bryan Griffin said in a statement.
The Legal Defense Fund, which represented the plaintiffs in the case, celebrated the decision.
“Institutions of higher education in Florida should have the ability to provide a quality education, which simply cannot happen when students and educators, including Black students and educators, feel they cannot speak freely about their lived experiences, or when they feel that they may incur a politician’s wrath for engaging in a fact-based discussion of our history,” Alexsis Johnson, assistant counsel of The Legal Defense Fund, said in a statement.
Opponents of the law are fighting it on three fronts: the law’s effects on K-12, higher education and employers.
Last August, Walker granted an injunction filed by two Florida-based employers, who wanted to require diversity and inclusion trainings for staff, and a consultant who provides such training. Walker at the time called the law “upside down” when it comes to the First Amendment because it allows the state to burden freedom of speech.
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