Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Friday banning critical race theory at both schools and such events as workplace training sessions, calling the concept an instrument of division.
DeSantis and others have described CRT as the notion that race determines one’s standing — either as an oppressor or a victim.
That approach fosters a fixation on race and minimizes personal responsibility, CRT critics say.
But proponents argue that America’s scarred racial history is not sufficiently examined in public schools and that kids should be exposed to a fuller history of the nation.
They add that the reported amount of CRT taught in schools is overblown and only being used to stoke intensifying public education culture wars.
DeSantis said at a press conference Friday that Florida schools already provide a comprehensive view of America’s past, including mandatory instruction on slavery, the civil-rights movement and the Holocaust.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says CRT causes division. AP
Opponents of CRT say that it overly fixates on race and minimizes personal responsibility. AP
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his state’s schools already provide a thorough historical education. AP“We teach all of that because it’s real history, it’s important,” he said. “We will not let people distort history to serve their current ideological goals.
“We’re also not going to teach that values such as merit, excellence, hard work, fairness, neutrality, objectivity, color-blindness are somehow racist or sexist,” he said. “They are not.”
