Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds responded to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis accusing him of sounding like Vice President Kamala Harris in regards to Florida’s black history curriculum.
Donalds clashed with the DeSantis campaign after saying the curriculum was “wrong and needs to be adjusted.” Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats have criticized the curriculum, which contains instruction on “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Following Donalds’ comment, DeSantis accused him of “siding” with Harris. Harris claimed the curriculum teaches “enslaved people benefited from slavery”.
“Let’s be very clear. I don’t even have a criticism,” Donalds said on Fox Business Friday. “This is a dumb story, and this is brought to us by the DeSantis campaign. They’re the ones who made this an issue. I’ve been very clear that the standards are robust, they are accurate, they are good. Students in Florida will learn black history. But my issue is with one sentence of the entire thing. One sentence of 200 pages. The DeSantis team wants to make a big issue out of it? That’s ridiculous.”
Let me tell you this for anyone who questions my loyalty to Florida.
I’ve always stood with Florida. I did it when I was in the state legislature. I stand for Florida now as a member of Congress. I’m fighting hard against this radical agenda from the Biden-Harris admin. pic.twitter.com/91bKLKWFJQ
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) July 28, 2023
“And for the people who are thinking about where do I stand? Do I stand with Florida? I’ve always stood with Florida. I did so when I was in the state legislature, I stand for Florida now as a member of Congress. I’m one of the members up here fighting hard against this radical agenda from the Biden-Harris administration. So my stance and where I am politically is very, very clear. But if I have an issue with one sentence, I’m allowed to have that. The fact that they made this a story is dumb, in my view.”
DeSantis gave Donalds an apparent ultimatum, saying Donalds must either side with Florida or Harris and the liberal media during a Thursday press conference. DeSantis claimed the curriculum was not crafted by people who were politically motivated. (RELATED: Van Jones Makes Child Molestation Analogy When Discussing Florida’s Black History Curriculum)
“At the end of the day, you gotta choose,” the Florida governor said. “Are you gonna side with Kamala Harris and liberal media outlets, or are you gonna side with the state of Florida? And I think it’s very clear that these guys did a good job on the standards. It wasn’t anything that was politically motivated. These are serious scholars.”
The curriculum also teaches the “conditions of slavery,” “African Americans who demonstrated heroism and patriotism” and those who made “positive contributions to the state of Florida,” according to the curriculum outline.