New Florida curriculum says slavery had ‘personal benefits’

A new curriculum for African American history approved by the Florida Board of Education includes a lesson that teaches slavery had “personal benefits.”

The board unanimously approved the education program at a Wednesday meeting in Orlando after a tense, more than hourlong period of public comment, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

The lessons angered teachers and activists, who argued they omitted key facts about the oppression of black Americans and the realities of slavery.

While the goals for public middle school teachings include the “history and evolution of slave codes,” a proposed lesson also asks instructors to show students “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

“I am very concerned by these standards, especially … the notion that enslaved people benefited from being enslaved. It’s inaccurate and a scary standard for us to establish in our educational curriculum,” warned state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando), the Orlando Weekly reported.

Genesis Robinson, political director of the advocacy group Equal Ground, argued the new curriculum only skims the surface of systemic racism.

“When you couple these standards, with the environment, the hostility towards daring to talk about certain subjects, it creates an environment where there’s going to be a complete removal of these conversations … in the classroom,” Robinson argued, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Critics also complained the curriculum framed violence against black communities as mutual, two-sided fights rather than racist attacks, the news outlet reported — noting a high school lesson on the 1920 Ocoee massacre calls for teachers to discuss “violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”

“[I]t suggests that the (Ocoee) massacre was sparked by violence from African Americans. That’s blaming the victim,” said state Sen. Geraldine Thompson (D-Orlando).

Opponents also condemned outdated language — the term “slaves” rather than “enslaved people” — the omission of Florida’s role in the evolution of civil rights and the state’s secession from the federal union in the Civil War.

“This is what we’re saying when we say that the standards are so porous because they’re incomplete,” Robinson said.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, board member Ben Gibson got a scathing letter from 11 organizations, including the NAACP and the Florida Education Association, accusing the state of manipulating “key historical facts about the Black experience.”

“We owe the next generation of scholars the opportunity to know the full unvarnished history of this state and country and all who contributed to it — good and bad,” the letter stated.

Curriculum supporters countered that the new curriculum met all requirements laid out by state law in 1994.

“Everything is there,” said board member MaryLynn Magar, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

“The darkest parts of our history are addressed, and I’m very proud of the task force,” Magar said. “I can confidently say that the DOE and the task force believe that African American history is American history, and that’s represented in those standards.”

Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. also pushed back at the critics.

“As age-appropriate, we go into some of the tougher subjects, all the way into the beginnings of the slave trade, Jim Crow laws, the civil rights movement, and everything that occurred throughout our history,” he said, according to the Orlando Weekly.

The Florida curriculum controversy is the latest in the wake of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE Act” in 2022, which regulates the content of instruction and training in schools and workplaces.

Earlier this year, the Florida Department of Education also tossed the College Board’s AP African American Studies class, asserting that topics like Black Lives Matter and reparations violated state law.

Public schools chancellor Paul Burns pointed out it’s the first year Florida created separate standards for African American history, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

The 13 members of the group that drew up the standards were selected by an 11-person task force, six of whom were appointed by Diaz.

At the start of the public commentary, task force chair Glenton Gilzean Jr. reiterated DeSantis’ stance, declaring: “Black history is American history, and we’ve heard that repeated time and time again this morning.”

“Let’s be clear, Florida already requires the teaching of African American history, but the new standards align these requirements and will hold teachers accountable to ensure that complete and accurate African American history continues to be taught,” Gilzean said.