Duval County, DeSantis disrespect Roberto Clemente’s legacy
It’s hard to believe it was two years ago when Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Azalea Park was renamed to bear the name of an authentic leader and role model, baseball legend Roberto Clemente. Soon after, Stonewall Jackson Road was renamed to match.
It was a historic win for the city of Orlando when community members, leaders and organizations like Alianza for Progress came together to successfully remove the name of a Confederate general to honor someone who was truly an inspiration and more representative of the beautifully diverse neighborhood where the school sits.
In many ways, two years seems like a lifetime ago as here we are today, under Gov. Ron DeSantis, when he and the Florida Legislature seem on a daily basis to plot ways to demonize any notion of diversity and inclusion in Florida’s public-school system and beyond.
When news broke that Duval County Public Schools removed an illustrated children’s biography of Puerto Rican baseball legend and humanitarian Roberto Clemente from the shelves of all public schools in the district, we were filled with sadness and disappointment. Clemente was a hero on and off the field, and a role model to children across America then and now.
What was the district’s reasoning? They stated they were unsure if the book is “developmentally appropriate for student use.”
As we’ve come to know, this is a legalese phrase that means: “this book discusses race and racism, and the Legislature has decided to make it illegal to teach that racism exists.”
The book at issue is a factual account of the life of Roberto Clemente and how he had to face and overcome a gauntlet of attacks and barriers on his way to stardom. Current-day politicians in Florida’s Capitol claim that an honest retelling of history would traumatize young children who might read the book.
This tortured logic seems to ignore the fact that book-banning by the government is in clear conflict with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Tallahassee politicians seem oblivious to the fact that every government in human history which embraces book-banning has in hindsight been considered anti-democratic. Every. Single. One.
And each day, DeSantis increasingly bears a resemblance to authoritarian leaders like Pinochet, Maduro, and Castro who used book banning to suppress dissent, indoctrinate and slant the narrative of political dialogue.
In similar attempts to ban books elsewhere in the state, the biographies of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, and Celia Cruz, a renowned Cuban music legend known as the Queen of Salsa have also been slated for removal. These two giants, one of whom was recently honored with a U.S. coin, may also be victims of DeSantis’ attempt to erase history.
Banning books is political censorship, plain and simple. It’s motivated by a desire to whitewash our diverse and enviable American history. This is not political conservatism, this is truly undemocratic and heavy-handed authoritarianism. It’s no different than what we’ve seen from dictatorships in Latin America that rewrite history to both control information and to indoctrinate children.
The ability to think for yourself is informed by reading books which explore different perspectives. Reading a diversity of ideas is essential to developing critical thinking skills and more broadly, to the pursuit of knowledge.
Book banning sends the wrong message to young people just forming their sense of what’s right and wrong. They need the truth — honest facts and not whitewashing. They will not accept a proclamation that ideas and opinions the governor disagrees with are not acceptable, and that it is now not OK to challenge authority.
Depriving Florida students of their right to learn about changemakers like Roberto Clemente, Sonia Sotomayor and Celia Cruz — who shape our rich and diverse U.S. history — is only setting young people up for failure.
Instead of banning books, we must promote open and inclusive discussions about the complex issues of our day, and encourage students to engage with diverse perspectives and ideas.
At Alianza for Progress, we will continue to work with local leaders and school boards to prioritize diversity, and to educate and empower voters to make their voices heard. We worked tirelessly with our community two years ago to win an important fight for diversity and inclusion, and it won’t be in vain. We stood up for what’s right then and we will again now.