When I write these blog posts, it's generally been done to highlight individuals, usually trying to mention people few people have heard of but who made a difference in some way.
Examples? Albert Murray, Admiral Michelle Howard, USNA, The 6888th Battalion
Anyways, this one's as much about current events as it is history, an attempt to provide some context to why Black History is cropping up in Florida as a divisive issue. Why Florida rather than Alabama or Mississippi?
When you hear stories of the Civil Rights Movement, Florida doesn't get mentioned often. Textbooks focus on M.L. King, Malcolm X, and towns like Selma and Birmingham--a necessity with textbooks trying to cover dozens of topics in multiple subjects. The problem is that this makes it seem like EVERYTHING took place in those towns--just like World War Two for Americans took place in France with D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and Germany's surrender, completely neglecting the massive Soviet war effort...or the CBI Theater in the Pacific while the USN/USMC fought the Japanese (no Army guys except for MacArthur, right?) You get the point.
So why is Florida resistant to issues related to 'critical race theory' (which has real problems) or the subject of how race is taught in schools--and as currently written, anything that can be tied to "CRT" is prohibited in classrooms.
-->CRT doesn't belong in secondary classrooms...it's an advanced legal theory and its discussion belongs at the collegiate level. The thing is--I can tie ANYTHING to CRT. Marxism...it's a political theory, so is CRT--can't teach Marxism. Improper arrests/unconstitutional behavior...nope, CRT is about blacks being treated differently by the law, so we can't actually teach the Constitution now either. See the problem?
[Part of the problem is that the legislation is poorly written/is meant for partisan consumption rather than smooth governing]
So why is this going on in Florida rather than the historical crisis points of civil rights? Why does Florida want to prevent the discussion of aspects of Black History?
Well--that's because Florida's government (local/state) track record of behavior during the Civil Rights Movement was astoundingly bad:
- Multiple discharges of pepper spray into faces at distances of under 6". This is what blinded activist Phyllis Stephens-Due.
- Lake County's sheriff (Willis McCall) provided the explosives to the KKK to kill Florida's NAACP state director...is known to have shot handcuffed black prisoners including a retarded man (Tom Vickers).
- To spite civil rights activists, Florida named multiple streets and areas for known racists--putting these new names on places that were predominantly minority neighborhoods.
- Florida police were the first to use cattle-prods against protesters starting in St. Augustine in 1961. Florida law enforcement people would seek out protesters who would not fight back and INTENTIONALLY use the prods on those people to provoke anger--rather than use the prods against actual rioters.
- Florida was the defendant in SCOTUS's Chambers v. Florida which said police could not coerce confessions by beating prisoners.
- You've got McLaughlin v. Florida (1964) which was the original ruling that interracial relationships are constitutional...built on later with Loving v. Virginia (1967)
- Did I mention June 11, 1964, when, encouraged by local police, James Brock, a motel owner, poured acid into his motel pool because blacks and whites had the audacity to swim in it at the same time? Brock got off with a misdemeanor for something like 'improper polluting of water'...nothing for injuries to the swimmers
Think about the new education rules--if a discussion could make someone feel bad/guilty about the past, it can't be discussed.
Do you see why Florida's current administration doesn't want this stuff discussed? It's disgusting and upsetting...and if well-known, would be a reminder to the ethnic Cuban population that Florida makes decisions based on shade of skin color rather than for the good of all.
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