Now, he’s gone too far.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had already crossed way over the line with his racist “war on woke,” attacking any and all programs ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion.
And don’t get us started again on his homophobic “don’t say gay” bill from last year outlawing some classroom instruction on LGBTQ issues.
Now, DeSantis has deemed it a threat to Florida’s future for school-aged children to read about two of baseball’s biggest icons — Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente.
Children’s books about the game-and society-changing Hall of Famers are on a list of titles banned in Florida’s Duval County, which includes the city of Jacksonville.
The books — “Henry Aaron’s Dream” by Matt Tavares and “Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” by Jonah Winter — are among 176 flagged titles, according to Pen America, a non-profit organization that champions literary freedom.
According to Pen America, books about Rosa Parks, Japanese internment camps and Hurricane Katrina have also been put on ice.
“No specific reason has been given, but they seem to be removing any books that acknowledge that racism exists,” tweeted Tavares. “They probably also don’t like the fact that it mentions the racism that Henry Aaron encountered when he played for Jacksonville in 1953.”
DeSantis in April signed the “Stop WOKE” act, which restricts lessons and training on race and diversity in schools and in the workplace, particularly anything that discusses privilege or oppression based on race.
The law also prohibits anything that considers whether someone “bears personal responsibility for and must feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress” due to U.S. racial history.
WOKE in the bill stands for “Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees.”
Catchy.
Under DeSantis’ Stop Woke Act, books that have not been officially vetted and approved must be hidden or covered, and teachers or librarians who don’t comply could face third-degree felony charges for sharing titles considered pornographic or obscene under Florida law.
DeSantis kicked off Black History Month by announcing plans to ban funding for diversity programs at state colleges.
If DeSantis had his way, we wouldn’t be celebrating Black History Month at all, which would be a shame considering all the generations that we’ve endured White History Month.
Yes, there is such a thing as White History Month. Always has been. They just called it something different:
March, April, May…
DeSantis is part of a scary wave of Republican conservatives doing their best to out-Trump Donald Trump.
That includes Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who, during President Biden’s State of the Union speech last week, crassly broke decorum and loudly called Biden a liar.
Greene was in a room where Republican George Santos — Congressman Pants on Fire — was holding court, and she called Joe Biden a liar.
DeSantis and his ilk need to wake up. Black people, as far as I can tell, don’t even say “woke” anymore. The word has been stolen, manipulated and used against us, like so many other parts of our culture.
Now, if we could just get Black people to stop using the N-word …
