Ron DeSantis.Photo: Wilfredo Lee/AP/Shutterstock
Florida Gov.Ron DeSantissaid on Friday that new education standards around teaching slavery in Florida schools will show that enslaved people were able to “parlay” the skills they were forced to learn.
DeSantis, who was speaking to reporters during an event in Utah, defended a new set ofacademic standardsin his state that will require middle schools to teach that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit” — a line that has ignited significant controversy among teachers' groups and parents in the state.
“They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,“DeSantis said, adding that “scholars” put together the standards, which he said were “rooted in whatever is factual.”
DeSantis also tried to distance himself from the standards, saying, “I didn’t do it. I wasn’t involved in it.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.Joe Raedle/Getty
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
In January, Florida’s Department of Education, which is comprised of DeSantis appointees, rejected a new Advanced Placement course on African American history in January, saying in a letter that the course “lacks educational value and is contrary to Florida law.”
“In the future, should College Board be willing to come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content, FDOE will always be willing to reopen the discussion,” reads the letter, which was sent to the College Board from the Florida Department of Education Office of Articulation.
According toTIME, the course covered more than 400 years of African American history and is the College Board’s first new offering since 2014.
source: people.com
