Ron Desantis is leading the charge in dumbing down America’s schools
It is imperative that Democrats stick together on issues. The Washington Post reported that the House narrowly passed a bill to provide upgrades to Capitol security. The insurrection left several people injured, and anything even remotely similar should never happen again. Should we just pretend this never happened because the most liberal arm of the party is more concerned about defunding the police? No matter what anyone believes, we need police. Yes, the police need some serious training. They should be held accountable when they do something wrong, but we cannot advocate for a lawless society. Instead, we need to focus on issues that impact us such as voter suppression and a new phenomenon, educational suppression, both of which Democrats together can stop.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is leading the charge of abolishing “critical race theory” from school curriculums in Florida. This phrase is merely another Republican fear tactic. Because teachers want their students to be more enlightened, they began teaching American history—true American history—to include both the good and the bad. History is what it is, and it cannot be changed. Enlightening students to the truth of our history is a good thing. If anything, this type of truth makes us look at ourselves in different lights. Republicans like Ron DeSantis, however, have other ideas.
Floridapolitics.com and NY Post reported that DeSantis publicly unveiled Florida’s new school curriculum. While speaking, he said: “Let me be clear. There is no room in our classrooms for things like Critical Race Theory.”
“Critical race theory” is not even a thing. What he is erroneously referring to is “cultural awareness,” which Republicans have twisted into a fear tactic. According to DeSantis, teachers are “teaching kids to hate their country and to hate each other” and “trying to make people view each other based on race.” News flash, DeSantis: People already view each other that way. What is taught by cultural awareness is the understanding of racism and inequality in the U.S. It does not teach us to hate each other; we do that fine on our own. It is taught to enlighten. It is not “crazy liberal ideology” nor is it “Marxist,” as DeSantis would have us believe. DeSantis is nothing but Trump 2.0, and everything points to him making a run for the White House in 2024. We cannot let him win.
The ignorance and hate that was unleashed on this country by Trump’s presence cannot be allowed to continue under a newer model of the same old intolerant beliefs. If the most liberal arm of the Democratic party continues to distance itself from the middle—even when their ideas are not sustainable—this country will suffer the consequences in 2022 and beyond. Let the Republican party fight and divide their party; we should not do the same with ours.
Life is about compromise, and so is our government—especially our government. The Democrats must learn to work together to accomplish goals that benefit the American people. If they do not and the Republicans return to power, we will never move forward.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years