Ron DeSantis and the Florida Board of Education are trying to put a positive spin on slavery.
I mean, was it really that bad? (Spoiler alert: yes it was.)
DeSantis and his educational experts found time (amid a full schedule of book-banning and decreeing who can use what bathroom) to rework the state’s African American studies curriculum so it was a little more chipper.
The revised curriculum points out that, “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Hey, it was just a jobs program, right?
And here we all thought DeSantis was the smart candidate.
The curriculum changes are a transparent attempt to whitewash American history and make it, you know, a little nicer to whites. (Yes, they even attempt to toss some of the blame for various massacres onto Black people in their revisions.)
These are all infuriating moves by DeSantis and his band of idiots of course, but there may be a silver lining.
Is it possible that in today’s Republican Party, sticking up for slavery may be a step too far?
I doubt it, but the rest of the country can teach them a lesson by trouncing them in the election.
That’s a curriculum I can get behind.
Amid all this election grandstanding and racism, Gillian Brockell of The Washington Post makes an important point: enslaved people were already skilled, and in many cases, that is why they were captured in Africa and brought to America.
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