Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis seemingly wants to ensure white people never have to feel bad about their history of racism in America with the push of a new bill.
On Tuesday, a bill that would block public schools and private businesses from making white people feel “discomfort” when taught about white people’s continual racism throughout American history has received its first approval. And it may be a direct shot at the effort to implement critical race theory.
The bill has received pushback from Democrats who say the potential legislation would only lead to lawsuits and censorship. They also questioned the realities of people actually telling students or employees that they are racist just because of their race, local news outlet WCSC 5 reports.
“This bill’s not for Blacks; this bill was not for any other race. This was directed to make whites not feel bad about what happened years ago,” said state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is a Black man. “At no point did anyone say white people should be held responsible for what happened, but what I would ask my white counterparts is, are you an enabler of what happened, or are you going to say we must talk about history?”
DeSantis has been public about his disdain for the critical race theory. Just last month, he called the analysis “crap” and added that he would look into making it legal for parents to file lawsuits against schools over its teaching.
