Some Florida lawmakers brought more than 100 people together Saturday to stand up against the state’s new Black history standards in public schools.People at Orlando’s town hall say the state is trying to erase their stories. Every seat in the room was taken. “And so we’re here this morning to try to help the State Board of Education not get an F,” Sen. Geraldine Thompson said.A “Speak Out” town hall brought more than 100 people together in Orlando Saturday because they want to save their history.”Let’s not have a sugar-coated, white-washed version of the African American experience. Let’s teach students the ungarnished truth about African American history,” Thompson said.The call to action comes as the Florida Board of Education recently approved new Black history standards in public schools. It’s drawn controversy because the teaching includes a perspective that some Black individuals benefitted from slavery, adding that it taught them useful skills for their “personal benefit.””What we know is we need the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to launch a fully-fledged investigation into what’s going on in Florida. That has not happened yet, but we are pushing,” Congressman Maxwell Frost said. Frost joined Thompson of Orlando for her organized town hall.National Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump was scheduled to join them as well, but at the last minute, he couldn’t due to testing positive for COVID-19.The crowd stood on their feet when they heard from a descendant of July Perry, who was lynched in the Ocoee Massacre. “What we want is somebody to stand up and say it was wrong – it shouldn’t have happened in Ocoee, it shouldn’t have happened in Rosewood and it shouldn’t have happened on Wall Street – it should not happen at all,” said Pastor Stephen Nunn, a descendant of an Ocoee Massacre victim.Nunn said his family’s history is Florida’s history, a piece of the puzzle that the state is trying to take apart. “Everybody else’s truth is told, but ours has to be hushed up,” Nunn said. When the debates started earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he believed a high school course on African American history was designed for “political purposes.”Frost is pushing federal leaders to investigate the state. “It has to do with, yes, the erasure or changing of Black history, which is American history but also many other things going on to just book banning,” Frost said. Top headlines: Deputies: Woman dead, man injured after Orange County shooting Wild doorbell cam video shows Central Florida woman coming face-to-face with bear while walking dog 22-year-old Florida woman wins $1 million on Publix scratch-off ticket
Some Florida lawmakers brought more than 100 people together Saturday to stand up against the state’s new Black history standards in public schools.
People at Orlando’s town hall say the state is trying to erase their stories.
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Every seat in the room was taken.
“And so we’re here this morning to try to help the State Board of Education not get an F,” Sen. Geraldine Thompson said.
A “Speak Out” town hall brought more than 100 people together in Orlando Saturday because they want to save their history.
“Let’s not have a sugar-coated, white-washed version of the African American experience. Let’s teach students the ungarnished truth about African American history,” Thompson said.
The call to action comes as the Florida Board of Education recently approved new Black history standards in public schools.
It’s drawn controversy because the teaching includes a perspective that some Black individuals benefitted from slavery, adding that it taught them useful skills for their “personal benefit.”
“What we know is we need the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to launch a fully-fledged investigation into what’s going on in Florida. That has not happened yet, but we are pushing,” Congressman Maxwell Frost said.
Frost joined Thompson of Orlando for her organized town hall.
National Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump was scheduled to join them as well, but at the last minute, he couldn’t due to testing positive for COVID-19.
The crowd stood on their feet when they heard from a descendant of July Perry, who was lynched in the Ocoee Massacre.
“What we want is somebody to stand up and say it was wrong – it shouldn’t have happened in Ocoee, it shouldn’t have happened in Rosewood and it shouldn’t have happened on Wall Street – it should not happen at all,” said Pastor Stephen Nunn, a descendant of an Ocoee Massacre victim.
Nunn said his family’s history is Florida’s history, a piece of the puzzle that the state is trying to take apart.
“Everybody else’s truth is told, but ours has to be hushed up,” Nunn said.
When the debates started earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he believed a high school course on African American history was designed for “political purposes.”
Frost is pushing federal leaders to investigate the state.
“It has to do with, yes, the erasure or changing of Black history, which is American history but also many other things going on to just book banning,” Frost said.
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