Florida bill requires schools teach which political party backed slavery and discrimination
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Rep. Kiyan Michael, R-Jacksonville, and Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, introduced legislation on Wednesday that would revise Florida’s African American history requirements, detailing the “sociopolitical circumstances” of the civil war and civil rights eras.
The bill was named after Vice President Kamala Harris.
HB 1139, the Kamala Harris Truth in Slavery Teaching Act, includes required details about which political parties supported and opposed the practice of slavery, which ones enacted discriminatory policies following the end of slavery and the instrumental voices that fought for civil rights in the many years afterwards.
Ingoglia filed the companion bill, SB 1192.
“Like most Black Americans, I was raised never knowing the truth that the Democrat Party was the party of fighting for, and keeping slavery, and the reason for the formation of the Republican Party was to abolish it,” Michael said in a press release. “It is a valuable, yet hidden, piece of our American history. This bill will bring forth these truths and expose the political party’s roles regarding the heinous institution of slavery.”
Harris traveled to Florida over the summer to speak out against the state’s new African American history curriculum, where she argued a popular claim that it taught how black people benefited from slavery.
“The same extremists who ban books in our schools now want to replace history with lies,” Harris said.
The creators of the history standards responded by explaining how it was “disappointing” that critics took their material out of context.
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Ingoglia also provided a statement in the press release about the filing of the legislation.
“Recently, in Jacksonville, Vice President Kamala Harris commented regarding Florida’s African-American history education standards saying: ‘When we send our children to school, as parents, we want to know that they’re being taught the truth.’ I wholeheartedly agree,” he said.
“That is why it is vitally important, and historically accurate, to include that the Democrat Party not only fought for the continued abomination that was slavery, but they also adopted pro-slavery resolutions and tenets into their official party platform,” he added.
Ingoglia also filed in November a proposal to ultimately ban reparations for slavery in Florida.
In addition to Harris, some Republicans who opposed DeSantis’ bid for the presidency spoke out against the history requirements, including Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
DeSantis invited Harris back to Florida in order to “set the record straight” on the issue of the history standards. The vice president never responded.
Michael endorsed DeSantis for president at the beginning of his campaign in the summer.
