Support of DeSantis policy is disrespectful to Black community
Is Gov. Ron DeSantis deploying his black wolves in sheep’s clothing to support an Anti-Black political and educational agenda during Black History Month?
On Jan. 5, Glenton Gilzean Jr., President of the Central Florida Urban League, penned an article in the Orlando Sentinel with the headline, “African American Studies course is about pushing an agenda, not education.” Wow! Why would any African American irrespective of party affiliation align themselves with what most Black Americans believe is a far-right anti-Black agenda? In my opinion, Gilzean’s groveling article in support of DeSantis’ political and educational policies was irresponsible and disrespectful to the African American community.
After embarking in disjointed and largely irrelevant analyses about the school-toprison pipeline and other racialized criminal-justice talk, in Gilzean’s article he attributes the root cause of mass incarceration of Blacks with all its indignities to “a lack of family values and unstable home life amongst our youth.” This generalization is offensive and lacks any nuance. It fails to identify which, if any, family values that he is referring too nor define what he means by unstable homes.
Gilzean appears to argue that Blacks have a unique deficit in family values and stable homes. Where did he obtain this corrupted understanding? Did Gilzean conduct a study on the history of Black family values while earning degrees in biomedical sciences and entrepreneurship at the University of South Florida? Did he develop what I believe is an antiquated view of Blacks during his six gubernatorial appointments with far-right white politicians?
Gilzean argues that the media is “pushing an agenda” that will harm the Black community by examining the contradictions in DeSantis’ educational policies but fails to articulate which media nor highlight the substance of any such agenda. More conspiracies? He also claims to understand DeSantis’ “innermost beliefs,” which he deems to be righteous but ignores what many believe is DeSantis’ Anti-Black political agenda in the form of the Stop Woke Act, anti-riot bill, and the wholesale attack on critical race theory and diversity and inclusion initiatives statewide. In my assessment, all these initiatives seek to miseducate, criminalize, and divide Floridians, particularly African Americans.
Gilzean’s article voyages further down the path of irresponsibility by celebrating DeSantis’ pardoning of the 1949 Groveland Four, without noting that they were posthumous pardons based on prosecutorial misconduct and the fabrication of evidence. You don’t get smelly stickers for doing what’s right. Gilzean also credits DeSantis for HB 1213, which was supposed to be a reparations bill for the victims of the Ocoee Massacre but was watered down into a toothless education bill. You don’t get props for seeking to repair the massacring of African Americans 100 years after the fact. Gilzean honors DeSantis for making historical investments in Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities but fails to mention that the State of Florida has underfunded FAMU nearly $2 billion since 1987. You don’t get kudos for paying back what you take. Moreover, DeSantis did not originate the idea for any of these legislative actions.
Finally, Gilzean parrots DeSantis arguing that the original AP African American Studies course is unlawful but provides no legal argument or rational to support his claim. Gilzean capstones his ingratiation routine by claiming that DeSantis is a victim of mischaracterization, and that history will show how many opportunities he has provided African Americans in his administration. Really, bro?
The Bible says, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.” I don’t know if Gilzean is a false prophet or a harmless sheep but if it walks and talks like a duck… Are DeSantis’ Black supporters willing to wholesale their hearts for state funding for charter schools and youth mentoring programs while retailing their souls to attack the need for AP Black History Studies during Black History Month? Is a high-level political appointment in a future DeSantis administration worth endorsing a curriculum that seeks to eliminate the study of the Black Lives Matter movement, reparations for slavery and segregation, mass incarceration of Blacks, and Black feminism?
Gilzean’s article reminds me of an episode of Boondocks where Uncle Ruckus learns how to be Black. Thank God the National Urban League has rebuked Gilzean’s article and positions.