It’s Kamala Harris vs. Ron DeSantis within the struggle over Florida’s new teachings on slavery

WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, going through heavy criticism for defending “anti-woke” educating in Florida, this week teed up an uncommon proposal to the nation’s first Black vice chairman: Come debate the deserves of the state’s new curriculum on African-American historical past.

Less than 24 hours later, Kamala Harris was in an African Methodist Episcopal church in Orlando, firing again.

“I’m here in Florida,” Harris mentioned Tuesday to a cheering viewers at a conference of Black ladies missionaries. “And I will tell you there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact: There were no redeeming qualities of slavery.”

It was the newest volley in a rhetorical conflict over Florida’s new schooling requirements that has escalated in current days. And it highlights the elevated position that Harris has been taking: Leading the White House cost towards Republicans vying to face off towards President Joe Biden within the 2024 marketing campaign.

Harris’s journey to Orlando was her second to Florida in simply over per week, after the state cleared new faculty tips that, partly, require lecturers to instruct center faculty college students that enslaved folks “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” It’s language that DeSantis defends towards sturdy pushback from Democrats and main Black Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Two days after the brand new tips have been formally accepted, Harris and her aides rapidly organized a visit to the state’s largest metropolis of Jacksonville and denounced “extremists” who she argued have been forcing “propaganda” on Florida schoolchildren.

The vice chairman additionally flew to Iowa final week and met with abortion rights advocates as prime GOP presidential candidates gathered in Des Moines to deal with an influential state Republican Party dinner. That got here on the heels of a brand new Iowa regulation that bars most abortions after six weeks of being pregnant, which is now on maintain, blocked by a state choose.

Harris’s strikes to grab the political offensive are a departure from years previous, when she discovered herself beneath repeated Republican assaults after making scant progress on tackling the migration challenges on the U.S.-Mexico border. Harris was additionally the purpose individual on the administration’s efforts to bolster voting rights, which didn’t achieve traction on Capitol Hill.

Her newfound aggressive posture is a pure one, Harris allies say, contemplating her background as a prosecutor who thrives on zeroing in on an opponent and hammering their faults.

“The vice president has long been an effective messenger when Americans’ fundamental rights are at stake,” mentioned Rohini Kosoglu, Harris’s former chief of workers. “This recent attack on education, which most Americans would consider extremist, is no different.”

Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, mentioned of DeSantis: “He took the bait.”

“The fact that he doubled down and brought another week of attention to a losing issue for him gives opportunity for the vice president to reinforce the message from the White House, and to reinforce what Americans understand slavery to have been,” Fried mentioned.

At subject are Florida’s revised curriculum requirements, significantly the mandate on educating middle-school college students concerning the “personal benefits” of slavery. On Tuesday, Harris referred to as it an “attempt to gaslight us in an attempt to divide and distract our nation with unnecessary debates.” She mentioned the invite from DeSantis – whom she by no means referred to as out by title – was an effort to legitimize that debate.

DeSantis has mentioned his critics are deliberately misinterpreting the language and notes that among the many individuals who labored on the brand new requirements is William B. Allen, a Black professor emeritus at Michigan State University who has defended the wording about slavery.

Still, many of the Black Republicans in Congress have come out towards Florida’s new Black historical past curriculum, together with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, certainly one of DeSantis’s challengers for the GOP presidential nomination, and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a former ally of the governor who has endorsed former president Donald Trump. Rather than backing down, the DeSantis marketing campaign has gone on the assault towards critics, together with Donalds, whose conservative credentials they query.

In his letter difficult Harris for a debate on the curriculum, DeSantis accused the vice chairman of attempting to “score cheap political points” and mentioned Florida was distinctive in requiring “this level of learning about such an important subject.”

“Kamala Harris got on a jet at taxpayer expense and flew to Florida to lie about the African American history standards,” DeSantis instructed Fox’s Bret Baier in a Monday interview. “You can’t bend the knee to the left’s lies. When the left lies and creates these phony narratives, you’ve got to push back. They’ve been doing this to Republicans for years and years.”

After Harris’s response in Orlando on Tuesday, Never Back Down, the tremendous PAC supporting DeSantis, tweeted, “Kamala Harris announces she is too afraid to meet with Ron DeSantis & the African American history scholars who created the Florida curriculum standards she is lying about.”

Quisha King, a Jacksonville mom of two African American women, mentioned she needs an apology from the vice chairman for spreading what she calls “lies” about Florida’s new Black historical past curriculum. King mentioned it’s Harris, not DeSantis, who is constant to gasoline the controversy, including that she has counted no less than 4 instances in current days that Harris has spoken concerning the Florida requirements.

“Personally, I want an apology. She should not be doing this,” mentioned King, a Black conservative activist who helps DeSantis’s presidential bid. “It’s damaging for our kids. They hear it and it creates confusion.”

DeSantis and different Republicans are desperate to make the 2024 presidential race about Harris, believing she could be a legal responsibility for Biden. DeSantis’s marketing campaign tags administration because the “Harris-Biden administration,” and the Florida governor has been certainly one of a handful of Republican challengers who’ve advised Harris can be the last word commander in chief due to Biden’s superior age.

“She could end up being president of the United States and I think voters need to take a hard look at that and see if that’s something that they would want,” DeSantis instructed CBS News final week, including that “I thank her” for her speedy response towards him and different Republicans across the nation.

But Democrats say they are going to proceed to bolster her position, which can be significantly seen this week as Biden stays on trip in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and Harris steps into the highlight Her schedule features a journey to the vital swing state of Wisconsin later this week in addition to remarks on the economic system after the newest job figures are launched on Friday.

“She’s been such an effective messenger in prosecuting the case against extremist Republicans who want to rip away fundamental freedoms, attack our rights and gaslight Americans because she’s got a lifetime of experience of fighting back,” mentioned Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. “Unfortunately for Ron, Vice President Harris stands up to bullies and will always be a staunch defender for the people.”

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