DeSantis receives apology from black advisory board in Miami after member calls him a racist

The chair of the Miami-Dade Black Affairs Advisory Board issued an apology to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after one of its members said at a Wednesday meeting, “Our governor is racist.”

In a statement issued Friday on behalf of his board, Pierre Rutledge said, “We take it to heart when someone uses the term racist.”

“Words matter,” Rutledge wrote, according to Fox News. “And so as chair, I must start by saying we want to pull that back. There’s nothing wrong with saying ‘we’re sorry.’ That’s not what we intended to say or be depicted by anyone. And that’s not the feeling of this board.”

Tensions were clearly high at the Wednesday meeting as the group discussed DeSantis’s rejection of a woke African-American history advanced placement course that pushed Critical Race and Queer theories.

As BizPac Review previously reported, in December, DeSantis introduced the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act aimed at eradicating Critical Race Theory (CRT) from Florida’s schools and businesses.

“In Florida, we are taking a stand against the state-sanctioned racism that is critical race theory,” DeSantis said at the time of the legislation. “We won’t allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other. We also have a responsibility to ensure that parents have the means to vindicate their rights when it comes to enforcing state standards. Finally, we must protect Florida workers against the hostile work environment that is created when large corporations force their employees to endure CRT-inspired ‘training’ and indoctrination.”

In January, the governor came under disingenuous fire from the White House after the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) rejected an advanced placement African American course that, according to the FDOE Office of Articulation, is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.”

“In the future,” the office said, “should College Board be willing to come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content, FDOE will always be willing to reopen the discussion.”

“This course on Black history, what’s one of the lessons about? Queer theory,” DeSantis told an inquisitive reporter. “Now, who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda.”


(Video: YouTube)

At one of her briefings, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre looked into her magic book and claimed DeSantis wants to “block” advanced high school students from studying African American history.

“It is incomprehensible that — to see that this is what this ban, or this ‘block’ to be more specific, that DeSantis has put forward,” Jean-Pierre said.

“If you think about the study of Black Americans, that is what he wants to block,” she continued. “And again, these types of actions aren’t new, they are not new from what we’re seeing, especially from Florida, sadly.”

Also not new is Jean-Pierre’s capacity for getting things wrong, as DeSantis’s press secretary Bryan Griffin was quick to point out.

On Twitter, Rutledge’s apology is being received by many as a welcomed breath of fresh air.

“THANK YOU for you statements on Gov DeSantis,” one user tweeted to the Black leader. “Our nation needs more of your rationality, kindness, and understanding. Casual accusations of racism are destructive & divisive. We all have different views we should share and debate peacefully.”

Republished with permission from American Wire News Service

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