Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) sent a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris inviting her to Florida to discuss the state’s black history standards with one of the educators who helped create them.
DeSantis’s invitation comes more than a week after Harris blasted the standards for a line about slavery. The line in question said that teachers should include in their lessons how “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
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Harris said the standards teach the idea that slaves benefited from slavery, while defenders of the curriculum said the line is about how slaves persevered through the despicable conditions of slavery and learned skills in spite of their treatment, not because of it.
“Over the past several weeks, the Biden administration has repeatedly disparaged our state and misinformed Americans about our education system. Our state pushed forward nation-leading stand-alone African American history standards — one of the only states in the nation to require this level of learning about such an important subject,” DeSantis wrote in the letter.
“One would think the White House would applaud such boldness in teaching the unique and important story of African American history. But you have instead attempted to score cheap political points and label Florida parents ‘extremists.’ It’s past time to set the record straight,” he continued.
The governor continued by saying he is “unafraid to have an open and honest dialogue about the issues” and that the vice president is welcome to visit Tallahassee, where he would ask Dr. William Allen, one of the collaborators on the curriculum, to join the discussion. He also said Harris may invite whoever she wants, including Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.
“I am prepared to meet as early as Wednesday of this week, but of course want to be deferential to your busy schedule should you already have a trip to the southern border planned for that day. Please let me know as soon as possible,” DeSantis said.
“What an example we could set for the nation — a serious conversation on the substance of an important issue! I hope you’re feeling up to it,” he finished.
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Harris is scheduled to be in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday to address the 20th Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Quadrennial Convention.
The vice president went to Jacksonville last month on short notice to deliver a speech on the black history standards, and she blasted them, claiming that officials were insulting “us in an attempt to gaslight us.”
