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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has once more found himself in the news as he's weathered standing up to woke ideologies and agendas.
Running the risk of being labeled a "racist" last week, the governor's office expressed concern that the pilot version of an Advanced Placement (AP) African-American Studies (APAAS) course violated state law. On Tuesday, the governor's office released a statement indicating that the College Board has said it would revise the course.
Taking a principled, moral stand for what is right makes a difference.
Here's what happened.
Be informed, not misled.
The College Board announced it would update the AP African American Studies course after the Florida Department of Education rejected the initial version due to a lack of “educational value” and “historical accuracy.”
They issued a statement that said:
"Before a new AP course is made broadly available, it is piloted in a small number of high schools to gather feedback from high schools and colleges. The official course framework incorporates this feedback and defines what students will encounter on the AP Exam for college credit and placement,” the College Board said. “We are grateful for the contributions of experts, teachers, and students and look forward to sharing the framework broadly.”
The governor's office also rereleased a statement from Florida Department of Education (FDOE) Communications Director Alex Lanfranconi: "We are glad the College Board has recognized that the originally submitted course curriculum is problematic, and we are encouraged to see the College Board express a willingness to amend. AP courses are standardized nationwide, and as a result of Florida’s strong stance against identity politics and indoctrination, students across the country will consequentially have access to a historically accurate, unbiased course."
Lanfranconi also referenced Gov. DeSantis' commitment to stop wokeness in Florida schools. "As Governor DeSantis said, African American History is American History, and we will not allow any organization to use an academic course as a gateway for indoctrination and a political agenda."
How the left creates a "gateway" to push their agenda on America's children.
Earlier this month we learned that a federal judge in Florida handed DeSantis a win after it ruled that the governor’s administration did not violate a court order regarding the state’s “Stop WOKE Act,” which prohibits colleges from teaching Critical Race Theory and other woke concepts.
Ironically, the judge---Judge Walker, had previously called the law "positively dystopian,” issuing a temporary injunction.
In November, Walker wrote, “Our professors are critical to a healthy democracy, and the State of Florida’s decision to choose which viewpoints are worthy of illumination and which must remain in the shadows has implications for us all…if our ‘priests of democracy’ are not allowed to shed light on challenging ideas, then democracy will die in darkness.”
DeSantis’s press secretary, Bryan Griffin, defended the law, arguing that DeSantis is doing his part in ensuring college students are protected from the Left’s progressive push to brainwash them.
And that is exactly what public education in America has become---a "progressive push to indoctrinate the next generation."
And most students know that's true.
"The governor, as chief executive of the state, has every right to ask how public dollars are being spent by public state entities, like state colleges and universities. In fact, that is good government," Griffin said.
Indeed it is.
Gateway to what?
According to a survey taken in 2020 of 20,000 students across 55 colleges, there is a liberal bias within higher education. But you already knew that.
Here's how DeSantis explains his "guidelines" and "standards."
"And the issue is we have guidelines and standards in Florida. We want education, not indoctrination. If you fall on the side of indoctrination, we're going to decline. If it's education, then we will do [it]. [W]hen I heard it didn't meet the standards, I figured, yeah, there may be something [concerning] here. It's way more than that. This is a course on black history—[and] what's one of the lessons about? 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. And so, when you look and see they have stuff about intersectionality, abolishing prisons--that's a political agenda. That's the wrong side of the line for Florida's standards. We believe in teaching kids facts and how to think, but we don't believe they should have an agenda imposed on them. When you try to use black history to shoehorn in queer theory, you are clearly trying to use that for political purposes."
MSNBC labels DeSantis a "racist."
"It’s the Daughters of the American Revolution, the pro-confederate groups who insisted that we can only teach slavery as happy slaves, good slave masters," Reid claimed.
Continuing to lash out, Reid shrieked: "I promise you an A.P. class that taught that slavery was good because it seemed at least per his former students, Dr. Gallon, that he wanted to teach history of slavery as sort of gallant slave owners who were kind to their happy slaves. He's cool with that. And if the A.P. course said that, he’d be fine with it."
Whatever DeSantis' motivation might be, he's doing the right thing. Is it a political motivation? Or is he simply committed to doing the right thing? Regardless, he is doing the right thing.
The sin of silence.
Gov. DeSantis has chosen to use his office for good. I think all of us must face that decision with whatever sphere of influence we have.
It has been said, "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is usually credited with that statement. Some scholars say there is no record that he actually said that. Regardless of who said it---it's true.
Abraham Lincoln said, "To sin by silence when we should protest, makes cowards out of men."
Takeaway.
Proverbs 24:10-12:
10 If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
11 If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
12 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
What influence do I have? And how can I use it for the glory of God?
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.