Racism

The Hill reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) defended his state’s updated and controversial Black history curriculum during the second GOP debate, decrying the “hoax that was perpetuated by Kamala Harris” regarding the new educational standards. “So first of all, that’s a hoax that was perpetrated by Kamala Harris. We are not going to be doing that,” DeSantis said when …

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the drawing of a new Alabama congressional map with greater representation for Black voters to proceed, rejecting the state’s plea to retain Republican-drawn lines that were struck down by a lower court. In refusing to intervene, the justices, without any noted dissent, allowed a court-appointed special master’s work to continue. …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Military Academy, known as West Point, was sued on Tuesday by an anti-affirmative action group challenging the school’s use of race as a factor in student admissions as a violation of the constitutional principle of equal protection. The lawsuit was brought by the same organization that successfully pursued litigation that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court …

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: Donelle Evensen, principal at Bunnell Elementary School, informed Superintendent LaShakia Moore that she is resigning from her post, the Flagler County School District said in a news release Thursday morning. Evensen and a teacher were placed on leave following the assembly that was held for “African American students that scored below a three on testing.” Furious …

The Miami Herald reports: When Florida rejected a new Advanced Placement course on African American Studies, state officials said they objected to the study of several concepts — like reparations, the Black Lives Matter movement and “queer theory.” But the state did not say that in many instances, its reviewers also made objections in the state’s attempt to sanitize aspects …

Little Rock’s NPR affiliate reports: Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva wrote to leaders of six Arkansas schools on Monday with the most specific concerns yet about the AP African American Studies course. The letter — sent to the handful of schools that plan to continue offering the pilot course — also asks the schools to submit course materials to the …

“We’ve got to get back to the basics of teaching math, of teaching, reading, writing and American history. And we cannot perpetuate a lie to our students and push this propaganda leftist agenda, teaching our kids to hate America and hate one another. It’s one of the reasons that we put into law banning things like indoctrination and CRT [critical …

Miami’s ABC affiliate reports: A group of “teachers, students, community members and Teamsters” marched to the Miami-Dade school board headquarters Wednesday in protest of Florida’s controversial Black history standards. The protest is being organized by the Miami Center for Racial Justice. At issue in particular is a state curriculum standard to teach middle school students “how slaves developed skills which, …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: Some Conroe ISD trustees want to crack down on displays of racial inclusivity and pride, saying they represent, “symbols of personal ideologies.” One trustee says a child was traumatized by a poster showing different colored children holding hands and had to switch classrooms. Citing “a number of parents reaching out to her about supposed displays of …

“The whole left lies about whites. The vast majority of your kids’ teachers lie about whites. They lie about sex and gender because their interest is not, is it true? Is it true is not a left-wing question. Does it further the cause of equity? That might be. Does it shatter the bourgeoisie, the middle class values that have shaped …

The Associated Press reports: NASCAR has suspended driver Noah Gragson indefinitely, the company said Saturday. The decision came after the driver appeared to have liked an insensitive meme with a photo of George Floyd on social media. Gragson, 25, was amid his first full season as a driver in the Cup Series, NASCAR’s top league, when he was replaced Saturday …

From the board of the South Florida Sun Sentinel: Long before Moms for Liberty, there were the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Their passion and influence kept generations of Southern children ignorant of how slavery had caused the Civil War and how cruel it had been. The “war between the states” was rather over “states’ rights” and tariffs. Confederate soldiers …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: The oldest intercollegiate Black fraternity in the country is moving its 2025 conference from Florida, calling the state “hostile” to the Black community. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. will relocate the fraternity’s 99th General Convention and 119th Anniversary Convention from Orlando “due to Governor Ron DeSantis’ harmful, racist, and insensitive policies against the Black community,” according …

The Guardian reports: Far-right former Fox News host Tucker Carlson denies being racist – but says if he was, he would “just say so”. “Being racist is not a crime,” Carlson says in a new biography, Tucker, by Chadwick Moore. “Maybe [it is] a moral crime, but not a statutory crime – so if I was racist, I would just …

NBC News reports: A graphic designer and activist who made TikTok content debunking the claim by Jason Aldean that his controversial music video only uses “real news footage” has been facing a wave of racist and violent hate mail by defenders of his song. Destinee Stark is among the first who publicly criticized Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” …

Mother Jones reports: Florida education officials William Allen and Frances Presley Rice, members of the group that crafted the standards, released a statement in response to the backlash. “The intent of this particular benchmark clarification is to show that some slaves developed highly specialized trades from which they benefitted. This is factual and well documented,” the pair wrote. “Any attempt …

Harrisburg’s ABC affiliate reports: Shawn Gooden has now pleaded guilty in Virginia to four sexual assault charges involving a child less than 14 years old. Police in Virginia told abc27, the alleged incidents happened in the late 1990s and involved a child who was already in Godden’s life. Years later, he lived in Palmyra and was a Boy Scouts leader, …

The CBC reports: Court of King’s Bench Justice Kevin Feth accepted a joint sentencing submission from the Crown and defence and sentenced Brad Dahr, 56, to four years in prison for sexual exploitation and one year for making child pornography. According to an agreed statement of facts, the pastor ran a mental health outreach program for young adults and asked …

“The curriculum includes how Black slaves were able to use their experience in some cases to make their brutally hard lives better. The course examines the various duties and trades performed by slaves like agricultural work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation. ‘Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.’ …

Reuters reports: Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature on Friday passed a new congressional map that increased the number of Black voters in one of the state’s districts, but Democrats said the plan defied a U.S. Supreme Court ruling intended to protect minority voters’ rights. Civil rights groups have already vowed to challenge the new map in court, a month after the Supreme …