A current member of Florida’s African American History Standards Workgroup ripped Vice President Kamala Harris’ claims that Florida is teaching kids slaves “benefited” from slavery as “categorically false.”
Harris claimed Thursday in a speech that Republican “extremists” in the state of Florida are forcing schools to teach students that slaves “benefited from slavery.”
“Just yesterday in the state of Florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us and we will not stand for it!” Harris said, prompting backlash against the sunshine state.
“So there’s been a little bit of backlash to these standards that were put out and you know like you said these were done in open sessions so the public could listen or watch along. What would you say to critics who say these standards have set education back?” an ABC reporter asked Dr. William B. Allen during an interview. (RELATED: ‘Read It For Yourself’: DeSantis Slams Biden Admin For Misleading Statements On Black History Standards)
“Well I can’t answer critics I haven’t seen or heard, the only criticism I’ve encountered so far is a single one that was articulated by the vice president, and which was an error. As I stated in my response to the vice president, it was categorically false,” Allen replied.
Yesterday, @abcnews aired a very small section of their interview with a member of Florida’s African American History Standards Workgroup, Dr. William B. Allen.
Here’s more of the interview, where Dr. Allen debunks @VP’s narrative and calls her criticism “categorically false.”🧵 pic.twitter.com/hPFbKNZPs1
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) July 23, 2023
“It was never said that slavery was beneficial to Africans. What was said, and anyone who reads this will see this with clarity, it is the case that Africans proved resourceful, resilient and adaptive, and were able to develop skills and aptitudes which served to their benefit, both while enslaved and after enslaved.”
The Florida State Board of Education approved new standards that would teach students that slaves developed skills for their own personal benefit, but does not say enslaved persons benefitted from the practice of slavery itself. The curriculum also emphasizes the injustices committed against enslaved persons.