The controversy over Florida’s attempt to whitewash the history of slavery continues to rage within the state and throughout the country. New details about the process that led to the guideline changes point to two Black Republican operatives as the driving force behind the new curriculum. Meanwhile, a number of Black Republicans have broken ranks with their party to condemn the suggestion of slavery as beneficial to Black people.

The Florida State Board of Education set off a firestorm last month when it published new education standards for the teaching of Black history in public schools, including instructions that appear to whitewash the history of slavery and anti-Black violence in American history. The new standards include teaching “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” The curriculum also takes a both-sides approach to acts of anti-Black mass violence like the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the 1923 Rosewood Massacre, describing “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claims not to have been involved in crafting the new requirements but has stood by the offensive idea that slavery imparted skills that enslaved people could later use for “doing things later in life” such as “being a blacksmith.” DeSantis has also taken to blaming the uproar over the curriculum on Vice President Kamala Harris, who made a special trip to Florida to denounce the changes as “an attempt to gaslight us” about slavery.

Even as DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, doubles down on the attempts to whitewash history, members of the committee that approved the new standards have distanced themselves from the decision. According to statements made by members of the 13-person committee, many of them opposed the new standards. They point fingers at William Allen and Frances Presley Rice, two Black Republicans on the committee, as the driving forces behind the new standards. The two issued a joint statement defending the curriculum and listing various people who they claim validate their statements about the beneficial skills learned through slavery; others have since criticized their list as inaccurate.

Some of the strongest condemnation has come from Black Republicans who have broken ranks with their party over the Florida education standards. Former Texas representative and current presidential candidate Will Hurd was quick to condemn the reinterpretation of history, saying that “slavery was not a jobs program.” South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, another presidential candidate, said that slavery “was just devastating” and urged the Florida politicians to “clarify their positions.” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said the new slavery teaching regarding personal benefit is “wrong and needs to be adjusted,” while Diante Johnson, president of the Black Conservative Federation, used the controversy to argue that “Ron DeSantis is not the candidate for Black conservatives.” DeSantis has lashed out against people like Scott and Donalds, accusing them of siding with Harris. This led to Rep. John James, R-Mich., another of the few Black Republicans in Congress, condemning DeSantis for going “too far” by attacking Black conservatives over their opinions on slavery.

With the Florida education guidelines being condemned across the country, the controversy over Florida’s latest effort to whitewash history won’t die down soon. The state’s attempt to minimize the evils of slavery has created a racial rift within the Republican Party that is impacting the presidential race, and it may have continuing repercussions within the party and the country as a whole.

black RepublicansEducationFloridaRon DeSantisSlavery