Black leaders clap back at DeSantis
Go ahead, Gov. Ron DeSantis. Use the N-word. You know you want to. It’s what his obsession with “woke” is about. It’s barely a dog whistle.
Right-wing extremists have adopted woke as a synonym for Black. DeSantis, GOP officials, and conservative pundits also have weaponized woke as a four-letter word (conveniently) for branding white allies of Black Americans as “N-lovers.” The right means to turn back the clock to the pre-Brown 1950s that Donald Trump promised and failed to deliver for Republicans’ shrinking white base.
Turning opponents strengths into weaknesses is classic Karl Rove. The right turned “liberal” into a smear. DeSantis and the right are doing the same with woke, left activist shorthand for being tuned into issues of racial justice.
DeSantis trying to ban the teaching of Black history courses in Florida as part of that effort has generated blowback. Black activists have had enough.
“I heard you say that Florida is the state where ‘woke’ comes to die…. We came to tell you, governor, that you just resurrected woke with more power than it has ever had!” thundered one Black clergyman at a rally on the steps of the old state capitol in Tallahassee on Wednesday.
They’re woke and they’re proud (Politico):
Black leaders on Wednesday ramped up their ongoing criticism of Gov. Ron DeSantis over Florida’s opposition to a new College Board Advanced Placement course in African American studies, claiming that the Republican governor is spurring a cultural battle to aid his expected presidential bid.
Civil rights activist Al Sharpton led a rally with several hundred people, including Black lawmakers and clergy, from a local church to the Capitol to protest the DeSantis administration’s objections to the course and recent moves, such as expanding a state program to transport migrants from the southern border to other states. DeSantis, meanwhile, has shown no signs of backing away from the College Board controversy and now wants to explore ways for Florida to avoid doing business with the nonprofit altogether.
State Sen. Shevrin Jones (D) invoked intersectionality. The fight is not just about AP history and Black people, but about the racist, white backlash against all marginalized Americans: LGBTQ Americans, immigrants, women.
“Everybody who’s marginalized, if you come for one of us, you come for all of us!”