Late Wednesday night saw people close to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defend the state’s new history guidelines on slavery by pointing out that the Advanced Placement course that the media demanded the state adopt has very similar standards. However, Thursday’s viewers of CNN News Central were not informed of these latest developments as host Jim Sciutto conducted a softball interview with Alpha Phi Alpha General President Willis Lonzer III where he accused DeSantis of trying to “soften the brutality” of slavery.
Lonzer was on to discuss his fraternity’s decision to pull its convention out of Florida over the state’s allegedly “racist” policies when Sciutto asked him, “can you help folks understand exactly what the change is in how aspects of slavery will now be taught in Florida schools? Just so folks who may not have followed this closely understand exactly what the change in language was.”
According to Lonzer’s summation of the changes, Florida is trying “to suggest that those who were enslaved benefited from being in slavery, as if they came into this chattel slavery system, without any skills or any type of labor perception. And that's quite the opposite.”
Lonzer would add, “That to suggest that people benefitted from such a level of chattel slavery system and more importantly, a brutalized existence as if to suggest that they benefited from it, when it's quite the opposite. It was depressive, it was divisive, and it broke a number of families up as a part of their whole systemic operation.”
The much-talked about portion of Florida’s new standards reads, “Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agricultural work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation).” And “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Meanwhile, the AP standard reads, “In addition to agricultural work, enslaved people learned specialized trades and worked as painters, carpenters, tailors, musicians, and healers in the North and South. Once free, American Americans [sic] used these skills to provide for themselves and others"
Sciutto, however, did not bring on Lonzer to challenge him on anything, “For centuries, right? It seems to be an attempt to soften the brutality—brutality— of it all.”
That statement also ignores the rest of the curriculum that depicts slavery as a brutal institution, but still undeterred by facts, Sciutto asked, “Now, when you have contested this decision with Florida education officials, how have they responded? How do they defend it?”
Lonzer lamented that the state bureaucracy is not throwing up roadblocks in the way of the elected governor, “Well, as we've heard through various press releases, the understanding is they seem to be cooperating with the governor. Perhaps abiding within their political environment in trying to survive this in going along to get along with Governor DeSantis. But it's not an acceptable decision.”
Sciutto, again, agreed, “Yeah. All you gotta do is read the history books.”
And all a “reporter” has to do is do is read the entirety of the new standards, but apparently that is too much to ask for when it comes to CNN.
This segment was sponsored by Tempur-Pedic.
Here is a transcript for the July 27 show:
CNN News Central
7/27/2023
3:38 PM ET
JIM SCIUTTO: Dr. Lonzer, can you help folks understand exactly what the change is in how aspects of slavery will now be taught in Florida schools? Just so folks who may not have followed this closely understand exactly what the change in language was.
WILLIS LONZER III: Well, the summary of this curriculum change is that to suggest that those who were enslaved benefited from being in slavery, as if they came into this chattel slavery system, without any skills or any type of labor perception. And that's quite the opposite.
We know that people came from the mother continent, through the chattel slavery system here in the United States with skills that they garnered there on the mother continent in the various countries that they came from. The implication here with that policy is absolutely ignorant or just divisive or both. That to suggest that people benefitted from such a level of chattel slavery system and more importantly, a brutalized existence as if to suggest that they benefited from it, when it's quite the opposite. It was depressive, it was divisive, and it broke a number of families up as a part of their whole systemic operation.
SCIUTTO: For centuries, right? It seems to be an attempt to soften the brutality--
LONZER: Absolutely.
SCIUTTO: -- brutality of it all. Now, when you have contested this decision with Florida education officials, how have they responded? How do they defend it?
LONZER: Well, as we've heard through various press releases, the understanding is they seem to be cooperating with the governor. Perhaps abiding within their political environment in trying to survive this in going along to get along with Governor DeSantis. But it's not an acceptable decision.
Individuals must employ the appropriate courage to stand up for what is right and what is historically accurate. That African Americans, black people, people from the Caribbean, came to this nation through chattel slavery and helped to build it.
Any other depiction is just absolutely and utterly false. And I think that there is a narrative that exists that is truthful, that shows that the reality is, that this suggestion that there was a benefit is absolutely absurd.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. All you gotta do is read the history books, Dr. Lonzer, Alpha Phi Alpha, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon.
