Faith-based protesters gather in Miami to condemn Gov. DeSantis' education standards on Black history
MIAMI -- More than two dozen people on Sunday protested Gov. Ron DeSantis' support of Black history education standards in Florida.
The group's leaders said they wants instructions that suggest "slaves developed skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit" removed.
"It's more than Black lives matters, Black history matters," said Dr. Joaquin Willis, president and chief executive officer of the Collective Empowerment Group during a prayer at the protest outside Faith Community Baptist Church. "Black history matters!"
As Willis prayed, the crowd around him, a mix of races and religions, shouted their approval, "Yes!"
Richard Paul Dunn II, senior pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church, promised continued demonstrations against DeSantis if the standards remain.
"This is wicked," Dunn said. "It's wrong. It's evil. It's racist. It's hateful. It's ungodly. It's unholy. It's unjust and we're not going to stand for it."
"To suggest that Black slaves developed beneficial skills is tantamount to suggesting that the Jews in the Holocaust that were forced to dig pits where the bodies of their fellow Jews would be dumped were preparing for future opportunities and occupations as undertakers," said Rabbi Alan Litwak of Temple Sinai of North Dade to the crowd. "The absurdity of that is unbelievable."
Two days earlier on the GOP presidential campaign trail, DeSantis acknowledged his critics but he hardly caved.
"I'm not budging an inch," he said at the Lincoln Dinner Fundraiser in Des Moines Friday night. "We are going to fight back against these people and we are not letting them take over our schools any longer. We are going to get this right as a nation."
The Florida governor told the crowd that Vice President Kamala Harris tried to create "phony narratives because she understands Florida has stood up to the left's agenda."
"We want education in this country not indoctrination in this country," he said.
The group of DeSantis critics gathered in Miami-Dade Sunday want the governor to pull out the presidential race too. Until Florida education standards on black history change, those same critics plan to speak up loudly.
"This is what it's about," Dunn said pointing to a child in a woman's arms. "Our children matter just as much as your children. We're not going to allow you to devalue our children."
