The Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Board gathered behind a podium at Stephen P. Clark Center last Friday, apologizing after one of their board members called Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a “racist” at a board meeting, the Miami Herald reported.
Chairman Pierre Rutledge clarified that despite the board member’s remark, the rest of the members didn’t share the same level of resentment.
“I have to start by saying that words matter,” Rutledge said. “Unfortunately, at our last board meeting, one word was taken…and I think it’s not indicative of the feelings of this board…we take it to heart when someone uses the term ‘racist.’ Words matter.”
“As chair, I must start by saying we want to pull that pack,” Rutledge continued. “There’s nothing wrong with saying ‘We’re sorry.’ That’s not what we intended to say or be depicted by anyone. And that’s not the feeling of this board that we have here assembled.”
The meeting occurred on Wednesday, Feb. 1, when board member and Miami attorney Stephen Hunter Johnson exclaimed, “Our governor is racist.” Johnson’s comment was a reaction to DeSantis banning Advanced Placement (AP) African American studies courses in high schools.
Board members unanimously voted to have Johnson and another member pen a letter to DeSantis, expressing their disappointment in his dissenting position of the course. During the press conference, Rutledge revealed that the letter told DeSantis about the importance of having AP African-American courses in high schools, highlighting that African American history is American history. He explained that elected officials dictating what students should and shouldn’t learn is “the epitome of political indoctrination.”
Johnson brusquely gave the Herald the rough draft copy of the letter, which was completely different from the final draft. He expressed disapproval of DeSantis opposing the courses, writing, “We find that your administration has engaged in overt racism and anti-Blackness, for purely political purposes.”
Johnson attended the event, but it was evident to the outlet that he disagreed with how his fellow board members confronted the situation.
“The Black community has been far too polite for far too long in the face of overt racism,” he stated. “And it is our obligation to call it out when we see it and are confronted with it.”
DeSantis banned AP African American studies because he saw it as political indoctrination—ironic considering Black history is a part of American history, from Slavery to rock ‘n’ roll (thanks, Chuck Berry).
During a press conference, DeSantis uttered his disgust for one particular lesson formerly included in the course lesson, queer theory.
“Now, who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids. When you look to see they have stuff about intersectionality, abolishing prisons, that’s a political agenda,” he said.
However, AP US History (APUSH) courses include American queer history, specifically those who contributed to the court cases that now enable same-sex marriages and enforce equality in job opportunities. Yet, DeSantis fails to recognize that Blacks had influential Black queer people (Marsha P. Johnson, Phill Wilson, etc.) who are why prominent Black queer people exist today like RuPaul, Laverne Cox, Lori Lightfoot and more.
College Board revised the banned AP course to where topics like Black Lives Matter, Black queer, reparations and the Stop WOKE act could be used in capstone projects but not in the actual curriculum. The curriculum is a bit watered-down, considering culture appropriation, pop culture, police brutality today and other insightful topics were omitted.
