Voters who only read headlines might think Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is teaching children that slavery was a good thing, but there are lies, damn lies, and Democratic media talking points.
I don’t think it’s dishonest or wrong to say that slavery was bad. Trying to say “well there were good parts” is a clear attempt to soften the wrongs that were committed. Florida’s new guidelines want to soften that and to refuse to teach about the atrocities committed by our own ancestors. This is horrible, and Desantis defended it. That’s what we’re mad about.
Slavery is bad. Slavery was bad. People being enslaved is bad and bad for them. Period.
All of these stories are completely false. Here are the two sentences in question out of Florida’s 216-page social studies standards: “Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agricultural work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation). Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Nowhere in those two sentences does it say that black people benefited from slavery. What it does say is that some slaves were taught professional skills and were allowed to benefit from this training. This is 100% true and, in contexts other than DeSantis’s Florida, wouldn’t be controversial.
This is a lost cause level editorial that blatantly lies about reality while also quoting reality that contradicts the writer’s message.
Note in bold that the word ‘benefit’ is literally in the standards and DeSantis quotes, which is what Dems are talking about.
