Florida’s 2023 Social Studies curriculum will incorporate lessons on the valuable skills developed by slaves for personal benefit, as stated in the state’s academic standards document reviewed by CBS News. These lessons will be included in the African-American studies section of the curriculum for students in grades six through eight. The curriculum will cover topics such as the causes, courses, and consequences of the slave trade in the colonies, as well as the differences and similarities between serfdom and slavery. Students will also explore the contact between European explorers and slave trading in Africa, as well as the history and evolution of slave codes.
The reference to “personal benefit” in relation to slaves’ duties and trades is included as a benchmark clarification. The curriculum asks students to examine various tasks performed by slaves, including agricultural work, domestic service, blacksmithing, tailoring, and painting.
Florida’s board of education approved the curriculum on Wednesday. However, Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the lesson plan, referring to it as an attempt to gaslight students. She emphasized the importance of honoring history and the duty to acknowledge the context of legacy. Harris stated that she would travel to Jacksonville to confront the extremists in Florida who aim to erase the full history and censor the truth.
Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed Harris’ criticism, accusing Democrats like her of lying about Florida’s educational standards to advance their agenda of indoctrinating students. DeSantis asserted that Florida stands against this agenda and will expose their lies. Two members of the work group responsible for developing the curriculum standards defended the lessons, highlighting the intention to showcase how some slaves benefited from highly specialized trades. They emphasized that reducing slaves to victims of oppression fails to recognize their strength, courage, and resilience during a challenging period in American history.
The curriculum aims to provide comprehensive and rigorous instruction on African American History. The work group members expressed disappointment but were not surprised by the critics’ reduction of months of work to isolated expressions without context.
Earlier in the year, Florida rejected an advanced placement course focusing on African American studies due to concerns over topics such as Black queer theory and the prison abolition movement. Governor DeSantis labeled the course as indoctrination, emphasizing the importance of teaching American history as a unified whole.
The Florida Department of Education expressed its concerns about the curriculum’s inconsistency with state law and lack of educational value in a letter to the College Board, which manages AP courses. The College Board revised the curriculum in response, removing the areas criticized by DeSantis. The department’s comments were deemed slanderous by the College Board.
Overall, the curriculum reflects an effort to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of African American history, highlighting the accomplishments and resilience of slaves during a challenging era.
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