Speaker 1: I noticed out of the state of Florida this week
Speaker 1: and from the Associated Press. Did y'all know there are
Speaker 1: students who are giving up their Saturday mornings to learn
Speaker 1: about Black history. It's happening at the Spady Cultural Heritage
Speaker 1: Museum in Delray Beach and at other community centers across
Speaker 1: the state. School district officials across Florida told the AP
Speaker 1: that they're still following the state mandate to teach about
Speaker 1: the experience of slavery, abolition and the many contributions of
Speaker 1: African Americans to society. However, a common complaint from students
Speaker 1: and parents is that the instruction seems limited to heroic
Speaker 1: figures like Martin Luther King, Junior Rosa Parks. The curriculum
Speaker 1: rarely extends beyond Black History Month. This we all know, now,
Speaker 1: y'all remember we got to look at several things when
Speaker 1: it comes to a story like this. First of all,
Speaker 1: I applored the students for giving up their Saturday mornings.
Speaker 1: I applored the teachers for making that time available to
Speaker 1: students so they can learn more about black history. I mean,
Speaker 1: when we think about things the lynchings, when we think
Speaker 1: about segregation, that still shapes the landscape at how grassroots
Speaker 1: activists mobilized to make times better for all of us,
Speaker 1: particularly African Americans in this country. And just looking at
Speaker 1: this article from the Associated Press, I'm just thinking about
Speaker 1: a couple of things it says here talked about Florida
Speaker 1: developed its own Black History tool kit last year. More
Speaker 1: than four hundred congregations have pledged to teach the lessons.
Speaker 1: The advocacy group orn AVAC groups are stated Florida has
Speaker 1: required public schools to teach African American history for the
Speaker 1: past thirty years in case y'all didn't know, but many
Speaker 1: families no longer trust the state's education system that adequately
Speaker 1: addressed the subject. I wonder why that is. Could it
Speaker 1: be governor around the centus. Could it be that he's
Speaker 1: the reason why faith has been lost in terms of
Speaker 1: things being taught about black history. I'd say so. One
Speaker 1: could easily argue that DeSantis, who won the gubernatorial seat,
Speaker 1: his reelection bid quite convincingly, I might add, fell off
Speaker 1: when he started talking about teachings in the school system
Speaker 1: and how there were certain teachings that he wanted to eradicate.
Speaker 1: And we have to remember that we have to pay
Speaker 1: attention to that, because that matters. Remember, you had advocates
Speaker 1: under fire by the administration of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis
Speaker 1: at the time, who had championed efforts to restrict how
Speaker 1: race history and discrimination were talked about in the state's
Speaker 1: public school system. DeSantis, according to the article in AP,
Speaker 1: had led attacks on wokeness and education at rallied conservatives nationwide,
Speaker 1: including President alec Donald Trump. The year was twenty twenty
Speaker 1: two to Governor signed the law quote restricting certain race
Speaker 1: based conversations and schools and businesses, and prohibits teaching that
Speaker 1: members of one ethnic group should feel guilty or bear
Speaker 1: responsibility for actions taking by previous generations. So, in other words,
Speaker 1: because you're born white in this day and age, obviously
Speaker 1: you aren't on this earth during the time of slavery.
Speaker 1: You aren't a slave owner. You didn't commit any lynchings
Speaker 1: or you didn't hang anyone, you didn't name anyone, you
Speaker 1: didn't rape anyone, you didn't murder anybody. You bear no
Speaker 1: responsibility towards what your ancestors did. That's what Ron DeSantis'
Speaker 1: position was. My question, is this fair enough? What does
Speaker 1: that have to do with making sure that African Americans
Speaker 1: in this nation are educated and made aware of what
Speaker 1: past transgressions took place that still affect them to this
Speaker 1: very day. We live in a predominantly white society in
Speaker 1: the United States of America. The numbers have dissipated. Once
Speaker 1: upon a time it was eighty five to ninety percent white.
Speaker 1: Now the number is dipped last time I checked a
Speaker 1: few months ago to fifty seven point four percent in dwindling.
Speaker 1: By the year twenty thirty, the US Census Bureau report
Speaker 1: says that the Hispanic populace in this country will have
Speaker 1: exceeded more than thirty plus percent, if not more. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the black population is about thirteen to fourteen percent. So
Speaker 1: when we look at that, and we look at how
Speaker 1: things have been politicized, and we recognize the power of
Speaker 1: the Hispanic vote, one could easily submize that at some
Speaker 1: point in time, if numbers were not curtailed, that the
Speaker 1: Hispanic population may measure up to, if not eclipse, that
Speaker 1: of the white populace in this country. You don't think
Speaker 1: that has anything to do with people being concerned about
Speaker 1: the borders. Are we all blind, deaf and dumb? Here?
Speaker 1: We know it does and When you take that into
Speaker 1: consideration and you see the focus on immigration, you can
Speaker 1: connect the dots. Why am I bringing that up because
Speaker 1: when we talk about black history and being educated about
Speaker 1: the transgressions of white folks in America back in the day,
Speaker 1: what you want to do, if you're Ron DeSantis, is
Speaker 1: to make sure you show no correlation between what happened
Speaker 1: in the past and what happens now. My response to
Speaker 1: that would be, well, just because things aren't as conspicuous
Speaker 1: and obvious as they once were, do you summarily dismiss
Speaker 1: the notion that, to some degree it could exist today
Speaker 1: when you consider the disparity in the incarcerated, where you
Speaker 1: consider a documentary like thirteen on Netflix by the great
Speaker 1: Ava du Vernay and was talking about how the penal
Speaker 1: system served to imprison and dare we say enslave in
Speaker 1: abundance of people. Think about those kind of things. When
Speaker 1: we think about corporate America today, who holds the power.
Speaker 1: When we think about the banking system with loans and
Speaker 1: things of that nature, housing, small businesses, etc. All of
Speaker 1: these things come into play. You don't have to have
Speaker 1: somebody in chains and hitting them with whips and doing
Speaker 1: things of that nature and order for them to feel enslaved.
Speaker 1: Not literally, of course, but figuratively speaking. You entrap the mind.
Speaker 1: The body ultimately follows, as they say. So, if you're
Speaker 1: Ron DeSantis and you made a concerted effort entering the
Speaker 1: presidential election to make this a point that you wanted
Speaker 1: to discuss so much so when we had people out
Speaker 1: there saying there were benefits to slavery, I mean you
Speaker 1: aku you thet people saying this. What are folks supposed
Speaker 1: to think about? What your ultimate objective was? If you
Speaker 1: don't teach people about history, they'll never know. If they
Speaker 1: never know, then they can't hold those accountable, nor can
Speaker 1: they make any correlation to those who might still be
Speaker 1: of like minded thinking at the very least, and you
Speaker 1: might be able to play a role in highlighting and
Speaker 1: dissecting and noticing where they stand. Because history teaches us all.
Speaker 1: You don't want certain groups favored fair enough, then why
Speaker 1: not just let history be taught and move out the way.
Speaker 1: And why not make sure they all teach on an
Speaker 1: exceptional level instead of twelve out of like sixty seven
Speaker 1: different schools getting a good grade while the rest of
Speaker 1: us for by the wayside. The fact that this is
Speaker 1: happening in the state of Florida. I believe it's a
Speaker 1: good thing. I want to applaud the teachers. I want
Speaker 1: to applaud the students who are attending these classes. I
Speaker 1: want to applaud anybody who wants to know about the
Speaker 1: dark history associated with slavery and indeenthured servitude. I appreciate
Speaker 1: that we can talk about it, We can have discussions
Speaker 1: about it. Problem with any white person saying I have
Speaker 1: nothing to do with that, even though some may beg
Speaker 1: to differ because it's your ancestors. I get all of that.
Speaker 1: By the way, black folks sold black folks into slavery.
Speaker 1: Let's not let anybody off the hook here. I'm simply saying,
Speaker 1: when you try to act as if it's not something
Speaker 1: that should be taught, when you try to act as
Speaker 1: if you would prefer that it's not even discussed, that's
Speaker 1: very incriminating, if for no other reason that it's incredibly suspicious,
Speaker 1: with all the problems that we got going on in
Speaker 1: this world, that the governor, at least over a year ago,
Speaker 1: had made such a concerted effort to derail at a
Speaker 1: fine and educating youngsters on to come up who happened
Speaker 1: to be black and wanted to know about their history.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying it's a good thing that this is happening,
Speaker 1: because folks associated with the Florida School System is adamant
Speaker 1: that our history should never be forgotten, nor should it
Speaker 1: ever be erased. It builds alligated skin a level of
Speaker 1: intestinal fort two. For me personally, that level of insight
Speaker 1: strengthens my resolve because when I'm able to look at
Speaker 1: my ancestors and I'm able to say they have to
Speaker 1: overcome that what the hell am I wanting and moaning
Speaker 1: about what I have to deal with now is nothing
Speaker 1: compared to what they have to deal with. And that, sir,
Speaker 1: is what enables me to look at get individuals on
Speaker 1: the content of their character, as opposed to judging folks
Speaker 1: strictly by the color of their skin and castigating everyone
Speaker 1: collectively instead of car par instead of compartmentalizing and recognizing
Speaker 1: that's not the right thing to do. Just the thought
Speaker 1: for you all to consider