Gov. DeSantis invites VP Harris to discuss Black history standards
MIAMI - Governor Ron DeSantis has invited Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss the state's new Black history standards.
The new curriculum has caused controversy by suggesting that "slaves developed skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit"
The line about "personal benefit" for enslaved people has drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle.
Harris, who returns to the state on Tuesday for a conference, has called the lesson plan an attempt to "gaslight" the public. DeSantis has seized this opportunity to invite her to discuss the curriculum that has faced opposition from civil rights groups, criticizing it for its portrayal of enslaved people benefiting from bondage.
The governor has defended the new curriculum, saying it was developed by experts and his invite to the Vice President includes a meeting with Dr. Allan White, a former member of the US Civil Rights Commission who helped develop it.
DeSantis has defended the creation of the new standards, arguing that Harris was trying to "demagogue" the issue. He also compared the line in the new standards to language in the framework of an AP African American Studies course, which Florida initially rejected, about how enslaved people "learned specialized trades and worked as painters, carpenters, tailors, musicians and healers in the North and South."
"Once free, African Americans used these skills to provide for themselves and others," the AP African American Studies course framework says.
Harris has not announced if she will accept the governor's invitation.