Yesterday, we told you about GOP Rep. Byron Donalds aligning with the White-House-media coordinated smear campaign against Florida's new educational standards for history. Donalds, like Kamala Harris and countless mainstream media outlets, suggested that one admittedly not ideally constructed sentence in the curriculum put a positive spin on slavery. Harris et al. have been citing that as evidence that Florida's Department of Education is trying to whitewash slavery or suggest that it wasn't that bad.
That's not a fair characterization of the curriculum, of course. And the argument against the curriculum becomes even weaker when you consider that the AP African-American Studies curriculum that was previously at the center of a debate between Ron DeSantis' administration and Democrats and liberals due to Critical Race Theory elements contained a very similar passage, yet Democrats and liberals and media outlets raised absolutely no issues with it and in fact went to the mat for the AP curriculum, shaming anyone who raised an issue with it.
So the issue here, aside from misrepresenting Florida's curriculum, is the intellectual inconsistency. And when we think of intellectually inconsistent people, Tim Scott is not one of the names that comes to mind. So we were legit bummed to see this from him:
"No silver lining:" Tim Scott slams DeSantis over Florida Black history standards on slavery https://t.co/rKIaacmFEz
— Axios (@axios) July 28, 2023
What he's saying: "As a country founded upon freedom, the greatest deprivation of freedom was slavery," said Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, to reporters during a campaign stop in Iowa Thursday. "There is no silver lining … in slavery."
- "The truth is anything you could learn, any benefits that people suggest be had from slavery, you would have had as a free person," he added.
...
Of note: Scott said slavery "was really about separating families, about mutilating humans" and raping women.
- "It was just devastating, so I would hope that every person in our country, and certainly running for president, would appreciate that," he said.
- "People have bad days. Sometimes they regret what they say, and we should ask them again to clarify their positions."
You can watch Scott discuss it:
NEW: Tim Scott tells reporters in reaction to DeSantis saying Black people benefited from slavery, “There is no silver lining in slavery… People have bad days. Sometimes they regret what they say, and we should ask them again to clarify their positions.” pic.twitter.com/SGfefU6IZq
— Stephanie Lai (@stephaniealai) July 28, 2023
(Quick note on the reporter's verbiage: DeSantis never said that black people benefited from slavery, so shame on her for claiming he did.)
Who's actually suggesting that there's a silver lining in slavery? That slavery wasn't thoroughly inhumane and evil and an indelible stain on the history of this country? And don't say white supremacists, because white supremacists are inherently vile and on the fringes of American society, and the DeSantis administration including the Florida Department of Education aren't taking their cues from white supremacists. Two African-American scholars helped to craft the curriculum and continue to stand by it.
And all of that makes Scott's criticism intellectually dishonest. Anyone actually saying in earnest that slaves benefited from slavery deserves to be smacked around, but that's not what Ron DeSantis did. And Scott knows that. He's just letting his political ambitions cloud his judgment, and yeah, that's disappointing to see.
That's not allowed Jake. Black folks on the right need to stfu so as to not hurt the cause, regardless of how we see an individual issue. https://t.co/W7n0GfHv6b
— IncognegroNeville 🇯🇲🇺🇸 (@FormerlyCBM) July 28, 2023
Again, it's understandable to take issue with the line in question, because, as we said above, it's not written as well as it could or should have been. But taking conservatives' defending DeSantis and the Florida Education Department as evidence that conservatives don't care about what slavery means to African Americans isn't really fair.
I think that is wholly reasonable.
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) July 28, 2023
But I also think this is pretty reasonable. These parents are seeing the reality on the ground, and it isn't what is being said here. https://t.co/JnmyuJRujk
Tim Scott made a mistake, and he shouldn't be surprised that people are frustrated or upset with him today.
Really a major unforced error by Scott here that will win him friends only with people who don't vote in the primaries. https://t.co/a8XXNj99xW
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) July 28, 2023
It certainly isn't going to endear Scott with DeSantis' supporters in Florida who swept him to double-digit victory last November.
We would expect someone like Byron Donalds to use the curriculum to go after Ron DeSantis. He is, after all, firmly on Team Trump, and Team Trump views Team DeSantis as their biggest threat. But Tim Scott has spent years building a reputation for himself as a thoughtful, reasonable, and fair conservative. He's consistently been one of the most liked GOP senators since he came onto the scene. And it's difficult to see him make a political move like this without being disappointed.
Yea I get it, it's campaign season. Whatever. But this is a lie. They all know it and if you side with Kamala Harris, you're done. This sucks. https://t.co/i8dcAto5KO
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 28, 2023
Getting pretty tired of this, I must say. My kids are not being taught that slavery was good in our Florida public school. It was a vicious lie when Kamala Harris said it. And it is a vicious and wholly discrediting lie when Tim Scott repeated it. https://t.co/lxqsGq2oGh
— John Now at Friendster Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) July 28, 2023
Editor's note: This post has been updated with an additional tweet.
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