Skip to content Skip to footer

Florida Bill Would Ban History Lessons That Cause White Students “Discomfort”

The bill would also apply restrictions on companies that require employees to be trained on workplace discrimination.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on January 6, 2022.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is pushing for the passage of a bill that would forbid public school teachers from teaching information that could cause students to feel “discomfort,” in yet another GOP attempt to censor lessons about the history of racism in the U.S.

The bill would also apply to companies that require their employees to receive training on combatting racism and discrimination in the workplace.

“An individual should not be made to feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race,” reads Senate Bill 148, which was approved by the Republican-controlled Senate Education Committee on Tuesday.

All Democrats on the committee voted against the bill’s advancement, saying that it would lead to a number of lawsuits and censorship in classrooms across the state. They also said that there were no real-world instances that would justify a need to pass the bill, and noted that the legislation could potentially prevent educators from teaching factual accounts of history.

The legislation was condemned by Sen. Shevrin Jones (D), the ranking member of the Education Committee.

“This bill’s not for Blacks, this bill was not for any other race. This was directed to make whites not feel bad about what happened years ago,” Jones said. “At no point did anyone say white people should be held responsible for what happened, but what I would ask my white counterparts is, are you an enabler of what happened or are you going to say we must talk about history?”

DeSantis’s promotion of the bill comes after his repeated attacks on Critical Race Theory (CRT), an academic field that emerged in the 1970s to examine how institutions perpetuate racial and gender inequality in the U.S. Although most K-12 schools do not teach CRT, conservative lawmakers have manufactured a false narrative about its prevalence in U.S. classrooms, likely to stir up support among their base through racist fear mongering. (One of the many lies being pushed by Republican lawmakers is that CRT teaches white people to hate themselves.)

Jones said that DeSantis, whose name is being considered for the GOP nomination for president in 2024, is traveling “across the country with his racist rhetoric on critical race theory.”

“It’s a problem that doesn’t exist,” Jones said.

In a recent Instagram post, anti-racist author Ibram X. Kendi pointed out that the notion that white people should be protected from “discomfort” was also used to justify segregation.

“I am reminded of segregationists who justified separate restrooms, elevators, waiting rooms, restaurants, phone booths, water fountains, parks, schools, pools, and even cemeteries by claiming White adults and children felt ‘discomfort’ around Black people,” Kendi said. “And now this.”

Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One

Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.

Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.

Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.

As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.

And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.

In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.

We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.

We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $104,000 in one-time donations and to add 1340 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.

Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.

If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!

With gratitude and resolve,

Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy