Florida Governor DeSantis Signs HB 7: Individual Freedom, aka Stop W.O.K.E. Act
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs into law a controversial bill, HB 7: Individual Freedom, aka “Stop WOKE Act”, that bans critical race theory from being taught in Florida schools k-12 grades, in the video published on April 22, 2022, “Gov. Ron DeSantis signs controversial bill banning critical race theory in Florida schools“, below:
Governor Ron DeSantis spoke (in italics), “So the bill that we’ll be signing here today provides substantive protections for both students and parents to ensure that the education they’re receiving in Florida is consistent with the standards of the state of Florida and those standards do not allow pernicious ideologies like critical race theory to be taught in our k-12 schools. We are not going to use your tax dollars to teach our kids to hate this country or to hate each other. We believe that every single student matters, every single student counts. We are not going to categorize you based on your race. We are not going to tell some kindergartner that they’re an oppressor based on their race and what may have happened 100 or 200 years ago. And we’re not going to tell other kids that they’re oppressed based on their race. Don’t let any body tell you that you can’t succeed in this state. Every body can succeed. And we believe in having that true solid education. I will point out because you actually will hear people lie about what we’re actually doing in the bill and they’ll say they don’t want you to learn about history and all the key things. Just understand that in the state of Florida, it is required in Florida statutes to teach about all segments of American history: where you have to teach about the holocaust, you must teach about African-American history, you teach about the institution and abolition of slavery, you teach about the failure of the post-civil war amendments to take hold, and how you need to fight for civil rights. We teach all of that because it’s real history and it’s important. But what we will not do is let people distort history to try to serve their current ideological goals. And we this in examples like the New York Times’s 1619 Project where they teach that the American Revolution was fought to defend slavery when in reality you can read the pamphlets, you can look at the Boston Tea Party, you can see what they were upset about because they told us, they wrote it down and they wrote a Declaration of Independence to fuel their fight for freedom. And so we have to be accurate and we cannot allow ideologues to try to distort what has happened in this country’s history and so we will absolutely teach all aspects of history that are true. We will study, in particular, the contributions of both women and Hispanics to Florida and to the United States. We will teach about civics, character. We will also have mental health education. This is all very important and we are really on the cutting edge. But we will not allow is to be taught that members of one race, color, national origin, or sex are somehow morally superior. We are not going to allow to teach that a person, simply by virtue of his or her race, color, national origin, or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive. That’s wrong. We are going to make sure a person’s moral character or status as either privilege or oppressed is necessarily determined by his or her race, color, national origin, or sex. That is not allowed! That is wrong! And we are not going to teach that. We’re also not going to teach that virtues such as merit, excellence, hard work, fairness, neutrality, objectivity, and color blindness are somehow racist or sexist. They are not! Every body can succeed. Every body works hard. Every body deserves fairness. So we’re going to stand by that. If you look though there’s a lot of focus understandably on the schools and we have seen examples of this ideology in the schools. And another thing that people will say is “there is no course called CRT in our k-12 schools”. And you know that is actually true that there are courses like that in law schools which is really where it should stay. But wat we are doing here is actually enumerating the principles of CRT being put into practice in a whole variety of subjects. So yes, we understand that’s not just one course. It’s an overall world view that many people are trying to inject into our kids’ education and that is not a true education. That is indoctrination. So, it’s an significant issue and these parents are going to be able to have recourse if the school districts are not following Florida standards. But we also understand the bill we’re signing is called the Stop Woke Act and the reason what it stands for woke is to stop wrongs against our kids and employees act because unfortunately you’ve seen employees mostly working for major fortune 500 companies that get subjected to this same type of ideology in the guise of workforce training. Coco-Cola, for example, had their employees be urged to be quoted “less white” as part of the company’s diversity training. Google employee program claims that America is a system of white supremacy that all Americans are “raised to be racist”. Walt Disney Corporation, of course, claimed that America was founded on “systemic racism” and encourage employees to complete a “white privilege” check list. Under this law, that is a violation of your civil rights. And so we will have substantive protections not just for students and parents, but also employees. And we’re proud of that. We also define in this bill, Individual Freedom on the fundamental truths that all individuals are equal before the law and have inalienable rights and all school instruction, instructional materials, and professional development must be consistent with those core principles that this nation was founded upon. Now as a contrast to critical race theory, this bill requires the Department of Education in the state of Florida to develop a Stories Of Inspiration Curriculum to inspire students with stories from American history that embody the principles of freedom. It was interesting Senator Garcia showed some one, some partisan group was sending out flyers saying that because she voted for this, she didn’t want people to learn about George Washington. And I’m thinking to myself like first of all that’s not in here, but if our kids learn nothing but George Washington’s character, they could do a lot worse for an education. I mean I’m just telling you. But we will have the stories of founding fathers like George Washington. You will see people like Frederick Douglass and see his journey which is really a remarkable journey. You will see stories of people that’ stormed the beaches of Normandy to defend this country from Nazi tyranny. You will find stories of people who fought for this country against communism, both in the Soviet Union and unfortunately just 90 miles off our coast in communist Cuba. So, freedom from indoctrination is a central tenant of what it means to be a citizen in the free state of Florida and we’re proud to take action. You know some people say, “don’t get involved in this.” And what are we supposed to do? Just let these ideologies overtake our entire education system? We’re not going to do that. We are going to fight for what’s right and we’re going to make sure that every body’s got a fair shot to realize their dreams and make the most of their God-given talent. “
To see HB 7: Individual Freedom, aka Stop W.O.K.E. Act, please click HERE.
To read HB 7: Individual Freedom bill, please click HERE.
To see “STOP WOKE” flyer/handout, please click HERE.
You may also be interested in reading these posts below:
- Why Florida Department of Education Is Banning 41% Of New Math Textbooks
- Former President Obama Speaks On Disinformation’s Threat To Democracy/Free Speech Guided By John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty”
- Elon Musk, Battling For Free Speech Via Twitter
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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