Rep. John James (R-Mich.) tweeted Friday that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) had “gone too far” in defending a recently approved K-12 curriculum in Florida that has drawn ire from other Black Republicans for its questionable framing of slavery.
KEY FACTS
In a post on X, the new rebrand of Twitter, James said “slavery was not CTE! Nothing about that 400 years of evil was a ‘net benefit’ to my ancestors”—a comment directed at DeSantis.
James also defended Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), two Black Republicans whom DeSantis has slammed over their criticism of the curriculum, which requires educators to teach middle schoolers that the skills developed by slaves could be applied for their personal benefit in some instances.
James added in his post that he is “so far from the Party of Lincoln” and that Florida’s education board is “re-writing history.”
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“there are only five black Republicans in Congress and you’re attacking two of them,” James tweeted.
KEY BACKGROUND
Florida’s Board of Education approved the slavery curriculum earlier this month, prompting backlash from figures such as Donalds and Scott. In a tweet after the new curriculum was approved, Donalds praised the guidelines overall as “good, robust, & accurate” upon seeing them, but took issue with the idea of slaves developing skills for personal benefit, calling it wrong and recommending that part of the curriculum be readjusted.
DeSantis reacted to Donalds’ viewpoint, telling reporters at a campaign stop that Donalds has to choose if he will side “with Kamala Harris and liberal media outlets” or side with the state of Florida. Scott—who is running against DeSantis for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination—told a reporter following a Thursday town hall that “there is no silver lining” in slavery, adding that the inhumane practice was about separating families, mutilating humans “and even raping their wives. It was just devastating.” DeSantis responded to Scott on Friday,
levying another comparison to Vice President Kamala Harris and saying the U.S. has struggled partly because Republicans “all too often accept false narratives” and supposed lies “perpetrated by the Left.”
Source : Forbes