The Republicans in our state legislature are appeasing their base and pursuing a law banning the specter of “Critical Race Theory”. The bill, HB57 by Representative Randy Fine, is titled “Racial and Sexual Discrimination” as if it’s some type of civil rights legislation. There was an identical Senate bill filed by Senator Joe Gruters who also happens to be state GOP chairman, giving the bill a good chance of becoming law.
This bill never mentions Critical Race Theory. Instead, it bans the teaching of what it calls “divisive concepts” in diversity training in state agencies, local and county governments, and K-20 education. Those concepts listed in the bill are the supposed components of Critical Race Theory.
Some of these divisive concepts such as “An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex” would clearly be opposed by most people. But, other concepts such as “The United States is fundamentally racist or sexist” make it clear what the bill is really about. It’s racial and sexual discrimination directed at white people and males instead of minorities that the bill is intended to address.
The bill also bans what it calls “race or sex scapegoating” which is defined as “assigning fault, blame, or bias to a race or sex ...” and “race or sex stereotyping" which is defined as “ascribing character traits, values, moral and ethical codes, privileges, status, or beliefs to a race or sex ...” Once again, when taken in the context of discrimination against whites and males, these words take on their true purpose.
A law against “espousing divisive concepts” sounds something that would land a person in jail in an authoritarian regime like China, Russia or North Korea. One of the divisive concepts, that “An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex”, is an open invitation to censorship. According to an Orlando Sentinel editorial on September 22nd, the bill “...contains some of the most sweeping government-imposed speech restrictions we’ve ever seen in a piece of legislation.”
To see the Orlando Sentinel editorial: http://digitaledition.orlandosentinel.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=678f63b4-553e-4a1d-9802-9e9ea6323835
To see the full text of the bill: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=73075
To contact your legislator:
House - https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/FindYourRepresentative
Senate - https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find
Steve Stora, Legislative Research