New Laws to Prevent Study of Critical Race Theory
STOP Woke Act.
In Florida the first laws were to ban the study of critical race theory in schools and now is expanding into employee diversity training. The justification is that no individual should be forced into situations that they make them feel quility based on their ancestry.
The tools used to enforce these laws is to give parents and individuals the right to sue and recover legal expenses if a situation arises they deemed responsible for historic wrongs because of their race, color, sex or national origin.
At one point Governor DeSantis evoked Dr Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech saying “You think about what MLK stood for. He said he didn’t want people judged on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character,” to support his agenda.
I’m sorry Governor DeSantis this plan is just plan wrong.
Dr Martin Luther King was about change.
One of my bosses quoted; “Change is inevitable, people are allergic to change.” Our founding fathers wrote “all people are created equal” in our Declaration of Independence. We must include everyone in “all people” to live up to this high ideal. Any talk about critical race theory rewriting history and getting back to our historic roots is mean spirited and unjust.
The hiring practices of our major sports leagues demonstrate that minorities are not treated fairly. We have a racist present as well as a past. Limiting discussion about the roots of racism is not a solution, it is a codification of our history into the present and future.
But of course that is the desire of the current Republican base.
Free Speech, hurtful speech
There are uncomfortable truths about free speech. It is wrong to destroy property and riot, that is not free speech but anarchy. Words can hurt when used to bully others. We need to find a means of expression which is not intimidating to those who disagree with us.
To put it plainly, Mr DeSantis and the Republican parties agenda is self serving.
To build a better future, we must have change
The change will require discomfort to those in authority and those of advantage. We can not invoke this needed change by continuing to elect Republicans such as Ron DeSantis to positions of authority. This change requires an open civil dialog, something that seems impossible in todays political environment.
There are many in the Republican party who have no desire to engage in a civil discourse. Free speech is redefined to limit the discussion in ways which favor those which praise the past.
The Mueller Report
When an investigation does occur, they refuse to accept the conclusions and interpret the report as biased. Donald Trump summarized the report as vindicating him, with a simplification of No Collusion / No Obstruction.
Reading the report neither simplification is an accurate description of the contents of the report. The simplification served Trump with a sound bite to rally his supporters. When congress attempted to discuss the report, Republicans made a mockery of the discussion by diverting from the facts and providing great theater.
With these new laws…
Republicans are attempting to make it law that these discussions can not be open. We must understand our past and present to build a better future. While we have made great strides, we are still a long way from perfection.
Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and their ilk are not looking forward, but are attempting to return us to the mistakes of the past.
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