Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks after being sworn in to begin his second term during an inauguration ceremony outside the Old Capitol on Jan. 3, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) Photo by Lynne Sladky | The Independent Florida Alligator
DeSantis proposes banning diversity and inclusion initiatives at Florida universities
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration is now scrutinizing, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Florida universities. During an inauguration speech Tuesday, DeSantis said Tuesday that he intends to ban state universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in hopes that they will “wither on the vine” without funding.
“It really serves as an ideological filter, a political filter.”
“We must ensure school systems are responsive to parents and to students, not partisan interest groups, and we must ensure that our institutions of higher learning are focused on academic excellence and the pursuit of truth, not the imposition of trendy ideology,” the governor said in his prepared remarks.
A memo from the governor’s office requires colleges and universities to “provide a comprehensive list of all staff, programs and campus activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory.”
DeSantis has taking aim at critical race theory and African American studies in the state as higher education agenda.
In the eyes of the GOP, the Florida Governor has become a political hero by attacking so called “woke” culture enforcing a revisionist, right-wing vision of American history.
DeSantis’ announcement follows a commitment earlier this month from the presidents of the state’s two-year community colleges to not teach critical race theory in a vacuum and to “not fund or support any institutional practice, policy, or academic requirement that compels belief in critical race theory or related concepts such as intersectionality, or the idea that systems of oppression should be the primary lens through which teaching and learning are analyzed and/or improved upon.”
Ron DeSantis has become a bully pushing his own agenda against African American Studies. This is his attempt to white wash history for his own political again.
