Pundits believe Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s (R) decision to refuse the Advanced Placement African American studies course from being included in the curriculum could alienate Black voters.
Although DeSantis hasn’t announced a 2024 Presidential bid, he is considered former President Donald Trump’s strongest GOP rival as the GOP searches for the new face of its politics.
But, a wave of recent decisions, which some describe as “anti-black,” could jeopardize any of DeSantis’s chances to get votes among a key demographic in a Presidential race. Black voters were pivotal to Biden’s 2020 win and the Democrats winning the Senate in 2022.
A Democratic Florida state Senator, Shrevrin Jones, noted that Americans should be concerned about DeSantis promoting the agenda he has, given that in a few years, he could be pursuing the Oval Office.
Jones asserted DeSantis’s policies wouldn’t be contained to the state but would be the “tone and the tenor” of his national agenda.
Since he was first elected to the Governor’s mansion four years ago, DeSantis has embraced a hard-line approach to critical race theory.
Some have touted critical race theory (CRT) as a necessary academic framework for addressing systemic racism.
But DeSantis doesn’t share that thought, asserting that the idea of systemic racism in the U.S. is a “bunch of horse manure.”
He’s backed up this sentiment by restricting how race can be taught in Florida schools and workplaces, in addition to rejecting the Advanced Placement African American Studies from being studied in Florida schools.
The move to block the AP course sparked criticism and prompted the NAACP to conclude DeSantis has a “clear disdain for the lives and experiences that form part of our national history.”
