Numerous mainstream media outlets published articles Wednesday claiming Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is prioritizing legislation that protects white Floridians from feeling “discomfort” when learning or discussing discrimination in the workplace or at school.
However, the bill they reference is SB 148 where individual races of people are not named.
The Associated Press (AP) ran an article entitled “DeSantis pushes bill to shield white Floridians from ‘discomfort’ at school or job training.”
“A bill pushed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that would prohibit public schools and private businesses from making white people feel ‘discomfort’ when they teach students or train employees about discrimination in the nation’s past received its first approval Tuesday,” the AP story said.
Florida State Sen. Shevrin Jones (D-District 35) condemned the bill claiming it exclusively protects whites and not blacks, or any other minority.
“This bill’s not for Blacks, this bill was not for any other race. This was directed to make whites not feel bad about what happened years ago,” said Jones. “At no point did anyone say white people should be held responsible for what happened, but what I would ask my white counterparts is, are you an enabler of what happened or are you going to say we must talk about history?”
Instead, the bill ensures employees and students are protected based on their convictions regarding being opposed to Critical Race Theory (CRT).
The bill does explicitly state the requirement to teach “the history of African Americans, including the history of African peoples before the political conflicts that led to the development of slavery, the passage to America, the enslavement experience, abolition, and the contributions of African Americans to society” in public schools.
The bill was sponsored by Florida State Sen. Manny Diaz (R-District 36), who is Hispanic.
DeSantis’ spokeswoman Christina Pushaw pushed back against the AP’s article.
“The word ‘white’ (or any other race) is not even in the bill,” Pushaw said. “The bill was introduced by a Hispanic lawmaker to prevent any kind of race essentialist indoctrination. But you wouldn’t know that if you rely on American Pravda and its ‘kind’ Tallahassee reporter for news.”
The word “white” (or any other race) is not even in the bill. The bill was introduced by a Hispanic lawmaker to prevent any kind of race essentialist indoctrination. But you wouldn’t know that if you rely on American Pravda and its “kind” Tallahassee reporter for news. https://t.co/9FR4CLKS0D
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 (@ChristinaPushaw) January 19, 2022
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “Ron DeSantis” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
