Ron DeSantis

Our Amicus Brief Against Florida's Stop WOKE Act

by Amna Khalid and Jeffrey Aaron Snyder

"The Supreme Court’s rejection of affirmative action in college admissions will provoke widespread debate. But not in the classrooms of Florida’s public colleges and universities, because the Stop WOKE Act prohibits it."

After Brown v. Board, Segregationists also Attacked "Woke" Businesses

by Lawrence B. Glickman

When two TV networks decided in 1956 to no longer air racist lyrics to popular songs by Stephen Foster and other minstrelsy holdovers, some southern segregationists took the move as an attack on the very foundations of civilization. 

New College Visiting Prof. Out of Job—Rufo's Public Remarks Suggest Politics the Motive

Erik Wallenberg wrote a critical commentary about the ideological reordering of their campus. His contract renewal was then declined. Trustee Christopher Rufo's tweets seem to affirm that the nonrenewal was ideologically motivated. Wallenberg speaks out. 

Comparing the Trump – DeSantis Race to the Republicans' 1912 Debacle is a Stretch... Right?

by Adam Burns

The whiplash of Ron DeSantis's rise and fall against Trump in the polls could be nothing in comparison to the political shockwave that would result if the Florida governor succeeds in taking the GOP nomination, but Trump doesn't go quietly—the falling-out between Roosevelt and Taft shows how it might go. 

Scholars Stage Teach-in on Racism in DeSantis's Back Yard

Yohuru Williams and the Institute for Common Power, directed by Terry Anne Scott, convened a 24-hour teach-in in St. Petersburg to draw attention to the connections between inclusive history lessons and functioning democracy. 

How to Fight Back Against the Right's "Parents' Rights" Moral Panic

by Jennifer Berkshire

Parents' fears about losing control over their children have been the raw material for potent politically-motivated moral panics for a century and more. But those panics aren't irresistible, because parents everywhere still value public schools as democratic community institutions.  

Trump and DeSantis Two Peas in a White Nationalist Pod

by Clarence Lusane

Any Republican candidate will need to lean in to the politics of white Christian nationalism ascendant on the right; Trump has needed the MAGA movement as much as it's needed him. 

Ron DeSantis's Book on the Founders has been Disappearing Online. We Found a Copy

by Gillian Brockell

Written during his days as a Tea Party Congressman, DeSantis's 2011 book cherry-picks quotes from the Washington and Hamilton to argue that Barack Obama was engaged in an unconstitutional power grab that would have appalled the founders. It also makes bad arguments about the centrality of slavery to the early Republic. 

Historian Don Yacovone: Florida's Restrictions Echo the Demands to Teach Pro-Slavery Argument

Jamelle Bouie's newsletter puts the current Florida controversy in light of a previous era's political demands about the teaching of history to justify one group's domination of another. 

CA's Newsom Demands Info on Florida Textbook Revisions

“You don’t get to rewrite history in a back room. You don’t get to erase basic facts around segregation, the holocaust, or Rosa Parks’ story. The extremists in Florida and textbook companies that are colluding with them are about to be exposed.”

New College Faculty Vote to Censure College's New Trustees

The censure motion, which was supported by 80% of the faculty, called the new majority of the Board of Trustees negligent in its fiduciary duty to the college because of noncompliance with transparency laws, failure to disclose financial conflicts of interest, and disregard for procedure in reviewing tenure applications. 

I'm Headed to Florida to Teach-In Against DeSantis's Education Policies

by Kellie Carter Jackson

This May 17 saw a 24-hour teach-in by historians in St. Petersburg, Florida, to protest the restrictions on curriculum, books and ideas pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis and his allies. As a historian of abolition, the author stresses that denying people the pen may influence them to pick up the sword. 

Florida's Book Banners Face New Opposition—and Their Lawyers

While there is a groundswell of opposition to book removal policies and other restrictions on educational content, it remains to be seen whether Democratic politicians will commit to defending the importance of public education in a multicultural democracy. 

Florida Just Banned Everything I Teach

by William Horne

Black historians during the Jim Crow era observed that the history taught in schools justified slavery, segregation, and lynching. A professor thinks that's where Ron DeSantis's vision of history is headed. Some politicians may think curriculum is a winning issue, but students and society will lose. 

DeSantis Signs Bill Giving Legislature Oversight of Invited Campus Speakers

The concept of an oversight office to guarantee "intellectual diversity" has a long lineage on the right. Florida is the first state to require campuses to create those offices and require compliance and oversight. 

What a White Man Learned Selling a Black History Encyclopedia Door to Door in 1971

by Jonathan Odell

"What DeSantis and his ilk now fear, is that we the people, Black and white, hold the missing pieces to each other’s stories, and once our stories are told, they can change us profoundly."

Florida Rejects Social Studies Topics on Communism, "Taking a Knee"

by Valerie Strauss

After rejecting more than 80 percent of proposed materials for K-12 social studies courses, Florida accepted many revised materials but still rejected 35 percent. Topics refused? Social justice in the Hebrew Bible, national anthem protests, and prosperous countries with socialist economies. 

Florida Senate Rejects DeSantis Pick for New College Trustee Board

Eddie Speir, whose prior experience in education was running a private K-12 religious school, was rejected by the Florida Senate after having participated in board meetings at the New College of Florida as an interim Trustee. What distinguishes Speir from Governor Ron DeSantis's other appointees? 

As Politicians Attack Campus Diversity Initiatives, HBCU Campuses Wonder How They'll be Affected

Many HBCU students fear that bans on teaching "divisive concepts" could be applied to undermine the historic mission of campuses serving African American students and promoting Black intellectual communities. 

Let Us Now Praise R. DeSantis

by Marc Stein

"I can’t believe it’s taken this long to have a political leader take a stand against gender and sexuality!"