Staff Reports
Vice President Kamala Harris wasted no time in clapping back at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after he extended an invitation to discuss the new African American history education standards in his state. The two politicians have been at odds over the implementation of these standards, and Harris made sure to address the issue during her recent visit to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.
Harris took the opportunity to criticize the state of Florida for their plans to teach students that enslaved people actually benefited from slavery. She called out DeSantis and accused him of attempting to divide and distract the nation with unnecessary debates. In a fiery speech at the Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Quadrennial Convention, Harris made it clear that she would not entertain any invitations to debate what she sees as an undeniable fact: there were no redeeming qualities of slavery.
Yesterday, @abcnews aired a very small section of their interview with a member of Florida’s African American History Standards Workgroup, Dr. William B. Allen.
Here’s more of the interview, where Dr. Allen debunks @VP’s narrative and calls her criticism “categorically false.”🧵 pic.twitter.com/hPFbKNZPs1
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) July 23, 2023
However, Governor DeSantis, who has his eyes set on the GOP nomination for president, remains undeterred. He penned a letter to Harris inviting her to Tallahassee to discuss the controversial standards. DeSantis emphasized his willingness to engage in open and honest dialogue, even taking a jab at Harris by pointing out her eagerness to visit Florida at a moment’s notice. He seems determined to address her concerns and shed light on the true intention behind the new curriculum.
Harris had previously criticized the new teaching standards in June, claiming that middle school students in Florida would be falsely taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery. However, CNN analyst Scott Jennings quickly debunked Harris’s claims, calling them a “completely made-up deal.” He pointed out that Harris seemed to have very little to do if she could jump on such a fabricated issue without conducting proper research.
As the controversy continues, Governor DeSantis’s Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern highlighted the misleading nature of Harris’s remarks. Dr. William B. Allen, a member of the African American History Standards Workgroup in Florida, called out Harris for categorically false statements. According to Dr. Allen, the curriculum never stated that slavery was beneficial to Africans. Instead, it acknowledged the resourcefulness and resilience displayed by enslaved Africans and their ability to develop skills and aptitudes that served them even before and after enslavement.
It is clear that Kamala Harris is using this manufactured controversy to further her own political agenda. Her privileged background and Jamaican slave owner ancestry make her an unlikely champion for the African American community. Governor DeSantis, on the other hand, is focused on providing an accurate and comprehensive education to students while engaging in meaningful dialogue.
