Florida’s Republican attorney general, Ashley Moody, told the state Supreme Court that she will oppose the inclusion of a proposed amendment that would protect the right to an abortion on next year’s ballot. Moody has previously said that she is “unabashedly” against abortion. “Ashley is clearly putting her personal politics ahead of her responsibility to Florida voters because she knows she has a…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
A ruling from an appeals court on Wednesday has upheld an injunction on a Florida law that bans drag shows in the state, temporarily preventing officials from enforcing the statute. A three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals considered but ultimately rejected arguments from the state that sought to make the law enforceable while the appeals process played out, as a district court…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
In Florida and Kentucky, teachers are struggling under the weight of the most extreme anti-LGBTQ+ education laws in the country. And some of them are leaving — either their profession or their state. Nick Clarkson, a transgender man who has been teaching for 13 years, resigned last month from the New College of Florida after the college voted to eliminate the gender studies program where he taught.
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
The school district superintendent of Charlotte County, Florida, has ordered librarians to remove all books and material containing LGBTQ+ characters from the district’s public school libraries. Charlotte County Superintendent Mark Vianello and the school board’s attorney Michael McKinley told district librarians at a July meeting that the purging of LGBTQ+ books from libraries and classrooms was…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
The New College of Florida has become a testing ground for Governor Ron DeSantis’s war on “wokeness” in education. The state government has shut down entire departments, gutted the office of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and fired allegedly left-wing faculty en masse. And the student body itself is also in the crosshairs. As many students look for the exits in the face of these institutional attacks, the New College of Florida is replacing them by doling out sports scholarships, recruiting a whopping 150 student athletes from primarily Christian private schools since this spring (the school’s entire student body is only 700). In this edition of ‘Choice Words,’ Dave Zirin lays out the purge unfolding at the New College of Florida, and the twisted role of college sports in DeSantis’s takeover.
Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Taylor Hebden Audio
Post-Production: David Hebden
Opening Sequence: Cameron Granadino
Music by: Eze Jackson & Carlos Guillen
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Dave Zirin:
And now, some choice words. Okay, look, you may or may not be familiar with the New College of Florida. This is the tiny 700 students school that the state’s Governor Ron DeSantis has turned into a social experiment by firing a mass of allegedly left wing professors, shutting down entire departments like gender studies, eliminating its diversity, equity, and inclusion workforce, forcing out students, and hiring flunkies to run it, including a media addicted racist named Christopher Rufo.
Wow! For people who rail against woke cancel culture, they have proved in practice what’s been obvious from jump. They don’t give a damn about free speech or a free exchange of ideas. They are leading a war against any discourse that is objectionable to the dark money billionaires pulling their strings. DeSantis and his trolls are quite open about what they’re doing. They want this tiny school to be their Fort Sumter, an opening shot in the name of what they crave to do to education throughout Florida and the United States.
They want to see ideological purges and ruined lives all in the service of an unaccountable right wing authoritarian agenda. And again, they’re open about this and damn proud of how they’ve hollowed out the New College. Every fired professor or expelled student a pelt on their wall. But why am I talking about it here on Edge of Sports?
Well, one reason is that I recently heard the Dream Defenders, a resistance organization in Florida, and a fired New College professor speak, and I was stunned that in the state where my mom was raised and my grandparents took their last breaths, a fascist thought laboratory has been born. But that’s not the only reason.
I’m also talking about the New College because I’m frankly sickened that sports is one of the ways that DeSantis has openly and proudly forcing an ideological cleanse upon the student body. In a recent press release posted on the official Florida Government’s website, a press release that frankly reads like a memo to the billionaires that own him, DeSantis boasts of the success at the New College since his hostile takeover.
He crows that in addition to canceling departments and destroying people’s lives, which yes, he brags about, the former Yale baseball player celebrates and “the introduction of intercollegiate athletics outside of existing intramural sports by forming six teams and a scholarship fund for incoming athletes and recruitment of nearly 150 student athletes since launching the athletic program in the spring.” Just think about that, 150 new student athletes out of just 700 students. Consider those numbers and let’s be clear.
This ain’t about sports, and this definitely isn’t about giving poor student athletes the chance at a college education. This is about the state government sending millions in taxpayer money to the New College so they can basically buy a new right wing student body through the means of athletic scholarships to replace those they forced to leave.
Remember, they are building an athletic department at a school of 700 people so they can throw free college money at athletes coming largely from Christian private schools so they can change the ideological makeup of the school and replace the students who have been driven out. This is about nothing less than taxpayers subsidizing a purge. Look, I love sports and I make no secret about that, but I also know that sports is like a fire, and fire can cook you a meal or fire can burn down your house.
This post was originally published on The Real News Network.
A House Republican in Florida introduced a bill on Monday that would gut child labor laws in the state, allowing minors to work full time and overnight. Currently in Florida, 16 and 17-year-old youths are barred from working more than eight hours when school is scheduled the next day and more than 30 hours a week when school is in session. This bill would lift those restrictions…
In recent years, conservative parents (and dark money-funded “parents’” groups) have attacked school boards as a political target and increasingly pursued book bans. PEN America reported “1,477 instances of individual books banned, affecting 874 unique titles” during the first half of the 2022-23 school year. These bans restrict students’ and local residents’ access to important knowledge about…
Summer afternoons on Florida Bay are a wonder. The sky, bright blue and dotted with clouds, meets the glassy water in a blur of blue that melts away any sign of the horizon. Wading birds rustle in the verdant branches of mangroves. Beneath the surface, fish and other creatures dart among tangled mangrove roots adorned with colorful sponges and corals. Out in the shallow flats…
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a candidate for the 2024 GOP nomination for president, failed to disclose multiple high-end trips, stays and other gifts from wealthy benefactors, a new report from The Washington Post details. The report showcases how DeSantis embarked on at least six separate trips on private planes that he did not disclose on campaign finance forms. The trips took place…
A federal judge has denied a motion to block enforcement of a Florida law that restricts gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adults while the legal challenge to the law continues. In May, Florida joined more than a dozen other states in banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth. While Senate Bill 254, signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, does not explicitly ban…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Florida Supreme Court justice Charles Canady refused to recuse himself from hearing arguments last Friday in a lawsuit that could trigger a six-week abortion ban in the state — despite the fact that his wife, state Rep. Jennifer Canady (R), is a co-sponsor of the ban. “I cannot imagine himself not recusing himself from a bill that his wife co-sponsored,” Barbara Pariente, a former chief justice of…
Exactly one week after the August 26 racist murder of three black people in Jacksonville, Florida, two neo-Nazi rallies were held about 140 miles south in Orlando, where masked and uniformed men shouted racist and antisemitic slogans. These events are signs of a new wave of neo-Nazis who are more eager for street violence than their predecessors in recent years. The smaller of the two rallies was…
Recovery and rebuilding efforts in the state of Florida following the damage wrought by Hurricane Idalia late last month will be impacted and possibly delayed because of an anti-immigrant law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) earlier this year that will reduce the number of people working on recovery efforts by thousands. Senate Bill 1718, which DeSantis signed in May, went into effect on July 1.
This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.
The Florida Education Board of Governors is set to vote on whether to approve a new college entrance exam that critics contend places too much emphasis on Christian and Western thought. The Classic Learning Test (CLT), which was created in 2015, is accepted as an exam entrance option by over 200 colleges and universities across the country, most of which are Christian. The test focuses heavily on…
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) has issued an emergency preparedness plan to confront the threat posed by Florida’s SB 1718, an anti-immigrant law which no longer recognizes driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants from other states and criminalizes the transportation of undocumented workers across state lines into Florida. “LULAC is ready to help our immigrant…
As federal law enforcement opens an investigation into the Jacksonville, Florida, shooting where a white gunman killed three Black people at a Dollar General as a possible hate crime and act of domestic violent extremism, we speak with civil rights leader Bishop William Barber about the increasing number of racist attacks in America fueled by racism. “There is this history of not just who kills…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
This week, the Canadian government updated its travel advisory for residents of the country who are planning to visit the United States, warning potential travelers who are LGBTQ that some states should be navigated with caution. The change reflects concerns among Canadian officials about dozens of anti-LGBTQ laws that have been passed in the U.S. over the past year. As recently as Tuesday morning…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Last weekend tragedy struck Jacksonville, Florida, after a gunman shot and killed three Black people — Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., Jerrald Gallion and Angela Michelle Carr — at a Dollar General store. The 21-year-old gunman’s attack was motivated by racism: He left behind racist screeds and carried out the attack with a swastika-emblazoned assault-style rifle, according to officials.
This year’s first major hurricane made landfall early Wednesday morning, bringing 125-mile-per-hour winds to Florida’s Big Bend region. Officials and residents told Grist that the sparsely populated coastal area, which stretches from near Gainesville to just south of Tallahassee, was wholly unprepared for Hurricane Idalia, a category 3 storm fueled by exceptionally hot waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
As the Jacksonville community mourns the loss of three people killed Saturday in a racist shooting, more details are emerging about the white supremacist who went to a Dollar General store looking to target Black people before killing himself. Authorities say he left behind a suicide note and other writings outlining his racist ideology. The 21-year-old gunman had legally bought the two weapons he…
On Sunday, former Vice President Mike Pence — who is also running for the GOP nomination for the 2024 presidential election — reacted to a shooting over the weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, by suggesting that mass shooters should be subjected to an “expedited” death penalty process. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” Pence said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” program, “and I’m calling for an…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
On Sunday, Florida governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (R) appeared in Jacksonville at a prayer vigil for victims of a racially motivated attack, where he was booed and heckled by members of the audience who said that his policies played a role in fomenting the racist violence that occurred one day prior. Around 200 people attended the vigil, one day after a white man shot and killed…
On Wednesday, the Florida State Board of Education voted to implement new restrictions on restroom use at college campuses in the state, forcing transgender faculty, staff and students to use facilities that do not correspond to their gender identity. The rules were passed in response to a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in May, House Bill 1521, which mandated that the board create standards…
Volunteers who regularly help protect patients from pro-forced pregnancy protesters at an abortion clinic in Orlando, Florida are pushing to save the facility from being fined “out of existence” by the state, following a $193,000 penalty that was levied against the clinic by the state Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA). In just four days, as of this writing Stand With Abortion Now (SWAN)…
Next week, I will begin teaching at a public university in Florida. When I announced my move to friends and colleagues, they were horrified. Wasn’t I terrified? Didn’t I know what Gov. Ron DeSantis was doing to public education in that state? In May, Governor DeSantis told Fox News that he would “destroy leftism in this country.” A week before that, Florida Sen. Rick Scott issued what he called a…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
This past weekend, the Arkansas Department of Education alerted school districts across the state offering Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies that it would no longer recognize the course, and that students who complete it would not receive high school credit for doing so. The course is a pilot program, offered to a number of districts across the country at the moment with hopes of…
The Republican-controlled Florida Board of Education on Thursday effectively banned Advanced Placement Psychology by notifying school district superintendents that teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity—key subjects in college-level psychology curricula—is prohibited under the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law.
That means class schedules for the fall semester—which begins next week in most Florida school districts—are in limbo for thousands of students. Last year, around 28,000 pupils in more than 500 Florida high schools took AP Psychology.
What a terrible decision that is 100% politically motivated.”
In a statement, the College Board—the New York-based national body that approves AP courses and runs SAT testing—called sexual orientation and gender identity “essential topics” in psychology.
“The AP course asks students to ‘describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development,’” the board explained. “This element of the framework is not new: gender and sexual orientation have been part of AP Psychology since the course launched 30 years ago.”
“We cannot modify AP Psychology in response to regulations that would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness,” the body continued. “Our policy remains unchanged. Any course that censors required course content cannot be labeled ‘AP’ or ‘Advanced Placement,’ and the ‘AP Psychology’ designation cannot be utilized on student transcripts.”
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“To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements,” the College Board added. “Therefore, we advise Florida districts not to offer AP Psychology until Florida reverses their decision and allows parents and students to choose to take the full course.”
As originally signed into law by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in March 2022, H.B. 1557—dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill by critics—”prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in grades K-3 or at any level “that is not age appropriate.” In May, DeSantis expanded the legislation to include all grades K-12.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, condemned the “slippery slope of government censorship and bans” in DeSantis’ Florida.
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“Sadly, it’s all part of the DeSantis playbook of eroding rights, censoring those he disagrees with, and undermining access to knowledge,” Weingarten said of the 2024 GOP presidential candidate, whose campaign has been accused of embracing homophobia.
“Just this year, countless educators have been forced to remove or cover up their classroom libraries under threat of sanctions and jail, countless students have lost out because the governor ended AP African American Studies, and now this assault on AP Psychology,” she added. “It’s an unconscionable but far-from-surprising move from an extremist and increasingly unpopular leader who is fast becoming both a national pariah and a global embarrassment.”
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At the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, president Kelley Robinson said that “psychology is centered around people—all people.”
“Erasing us from the curriculum ignores our existence, sets back Florida students who want to pursue psychology in higher education, and disrupts pathways for future mental health professionals to provide comprehensive, culturally competent mental healthcare for the LGBTQ+ community,” she continued.
“College Board’s AP Psychology curriculum is science-driven and endorsed by both educators and experts,” Robinson noted. “Educational systems that reject the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people from their psychology courses are failing in their commitment to students.”
Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-42) said in a statement, “As someone who graduated from Florida public schools with college credit via AP classes, I know how powerful and effective these classes are and I am sick to my stomach to see what Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican Party are doing in our state.”
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Florida Department of Education Spokesperson Cassie Pelelis accused the College Board of “attempting to force school districts to prevent students from taking the AP Psychology.”
“The department didn’t ‘ban’ the course,” she insisted. “The course remains listed in Florida’s Course Code Directory for the 2023-24 school year. We encourage the College Board to stop playing games with Florida students and continue to offer the course and allow teachers to operate accordingly.”
During the previous academic year, educators, students, parents, and Democratic lawmakers reacted angrily after the DeSantis administration rejected a new high school AP African American Studies course—without even seeing its syllabus—claiming it violated the state’s ban on “woke” education and lacked “educational value.”
In March, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction against the Stop WOKE Act.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams.
Organizers in Florida have collected more than a million signatures to put constitutional amendments protecting abortion access and legalizing marijuana on the 2024 ballot. The abortion rights ballot initiative was launched shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a six-week abortion ban into law. Implementation of that law is currently on hold as the state’s conservative Supreme Court…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
We live in a time of menacing freedoms and the rise of fascist politics. Freedom in the current historical moment has turned ugly. The presence of “ugly freedoms” is not new, and its history is repeating itself with a politics that is as cruel as it is dangerous and widespread. This is an age inextricably defined by the question of who qualifies as a citizen of the United States and what kind of…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.