July 28th 2023.
Rep. Byron Donalds, a Black Republican in Florida, has weighed in on the latest revisions of the state's school systems' Black History curriculum. While he agrees with most of the changes, he firmly draws the line at the suggestion that slavery was of any benefit to those who were enslaved.
In a tweet, Donalds expressed his disapproval of the standard and urged the education department to “correct” the issue.
"The new African-American standards in FL are good, robust, & accurate. That being said, the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted. That obviously wasn't the goal & I have faith that FLDOE will correct this," Donalds wrote.
During an interview with WINK, Donalds made it very clear that he does not support the idea that slavery could have been of any benefit to those enslaved.
"Slavery was terrible in our country. It was terrible for Black people coming to America, and it was just flat-out wrong, no doubt about that," he said.
Donalds does not take the same stance as Vice President Kamala Harris, who referred to the guidelines as an “insult” and “revisionist history,” but he is hopeful that students will understand that slavery was never beneficial. He believes that the only issue is the need for “refinement” to the Black history section of Florida’s school curriculum, and that it needs to be made clear that slavery had no redeeming qualities.
"To me, yes, that section needs some adjustments. The talking point narrative around it, yeah, it sounds awful. Like nobody should be accepting of that, but when you read through the standards, they actually did a very good job in covering all aspects of Black history in the United States," he said.
Donalds is advocating for the education department to make the necessary corrections to the Black History curriculum to ensure that the true history of slavery is taught to students. He believes that it is of the utmost importance to teach students the truth about slavery and its effects on the African American community.
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