Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, the only Black Republican in his state's congressional delegation, this week pushed back against new history curriculum that requires teaching middle school students that Black people got some personal benefits from skills learned while they were enslaved.
On Wednesday, Donalds tweeted that although the new African American standards in Florida are "good, robust, & accurate…. the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted. That obviously wasn't the goal & I have faith that FLDOE will correct this."
Last week, the Florida Board of Education approved the controversial new Black history standards, which included "benchmark clarifications" such as one for grades six-eight that "instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."
The revised standards have drawn outcry from Democrats like Vice President Kamala Harris, who went to Florida last week to denounce them in a speech that DeSantis dismissed as "ridiculous" and "outrageous."
Donalds, an ally of former President Donald Trump, is a notable Republican speaking out against the guidelines.
His statement was quickly challenged by some other officials in Florida and aides to DeSantis, reflecting how the local controversy has now also become an issue in the Republican primary.
Rep. Byron Donalds speaks during a news conference on March 10, 2023 in Washington, D.C.Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, FILE
Christina Pushaw, a DeSantis campaign spokeswoman, responded to Donalds' criticism by tweeting to ask if "Kamala Harris wrote" it.
Florida's Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. argued against Donalds' statement, saying that "the new curriculum is based on truth."
"We will not back down from teaching our nation's true history at the behest of a woke White House, nor at the behest of a supposedly conservative congressman," Diaz wrote on Twitter.
Jeremy Redfern, the press secretary for DeSantis' gubernatorial office, contended on Twitter that Donalds was repeating a "false narrative" from the Biden White House.
Redfern referred back to similar language used by the College Board for an Advance Placement African American Studies course where, under the essential knowledge section, students would be "taught enslaved people learned specialized trades and worked as painters, carpenters, tailors, musicians, and healers in the North and South. Once free, American Americans used these skills to provide for themselves and others."
On social media, Donalds attacked the attacks against him.
"What's crazy to me is I expressed support for the vast majority of the new African American history standards and happened to oppose one sentence that seemed to dignify the skills gained by slaves as a result of their enslavement," he wrote on Twitter. "Anyone who can't accurately interpret what I said is disingenuous and is desperately attempting to score political points. Just another reason why l'm proud to have endorsed President Donald J. Trump!"
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Family Leadership Summit, July 14, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa.Charlie Neibergall/AP, FILE
Earlier this year, Donalds announced that he would support Trump's reelection bid, becoming one of the first members of the Florida congressional delegation to do so.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the former president released a statement on Twitter Wednesday night praising Donalds.
"If he thinks something is BS, he'll tell you," Miller said. "That's why we like him so much."
Former President Donald Trump arrives at New Orleans International Airport in New Orleans, July 25, 2023.Gerald Herbert/AP
In a speech from Jacksonville, Florida, last week, Harris lambasted the changes to how Black history will be taught, saying, "They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it."
The changes were made to the history curriculum after the Florida Legislature passed DeSantis' "Stop-WOKE" law, which is described as an act that creates protection for students and workers, allowing them to not feel "discrimination based on race, color, sex or national origin."
DeSantis has defended the new guidelines while seemingly trying to distance himself from them, too.
During a press conference in Salt Lake City last week, when presented with the language of one of the benchmarks, DeSantis said he "wasn't involved."
"But I think what they're doing is, I think that they're probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed being a blacksmith into doing things later in life. But the reality is, all of that is rooted in whatever is factual," he said. "They listed everything out, and if you have any questions about it, just asked the Department of Education. You can talk about those folks. But I mean, these were scholars that put that together. It was not anything that was done politically."
Tim Scott also speaks out
At an event in Iowa on Thursday night, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a DeSantis rival in the 2024 primary race and the only Black Republican running for president, spoke out on the new history standards in Florida.
"There is no silver lining in slavery," he told a reporter, saying that "anything you can learn" while enslaved could also have been learned in freedom.
"Slavery was really about separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating," Scott said.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
