DeSantis is defending new slavery teachings. Civil rights leaders see a pattern of ‘policy violence’

By STEVE PEOPLES, BRENDAN FARRINGTON and KAT STAFFORD
Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Civil rights activists cheered when Ron DeSantis pardoned four Black men wrongfully convicted of rape as one of his first actions as Florida’s new governor. But four years later, Black leaders decry what they call a pattern of “policy violence” against people of color by the DeSantis administration. Those leaders say that pattern reached a low point following the recent release of an “anti-woke” public school curriculum on Black history. Florida’s teachers now must instruct middle school students that people in slavery “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” The debate highlights the political risks of DeSantis’ approach on race as he eyes the presidency.