A textbook publisher in Florida altered civil rights icon Rosa Parks story to remove any mention of race amid Gov. Ron DeSantis’ war on ‘wokeness’ in the state’s public schools.
Parks, a Black woman, helped initiate the civil rights movement in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.
Though Florida schools are allowed to teach Black history, a controversial bill signed into law by DeSantis last year drastically limit race education in schools by banning the teaching of certain topics that compels students to feel guilt or shame about their race because of events in the past.
According to the New York Times, one publisher, Studies Weekly, scrubbed Parks’ story of any mention of race to be on the safe side.
The current publication, meant for first graders, clearly explains segregation, “The law said African Americans had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted to sit down.”
But, the updated version created for the state textbook review process just says, “She was told to move to a different seat.”
It is not clear which version was officially submitted for review in Florida.
The publisher cited the new law to explain the whitewashing of Parks’ story. But, the Florida Department of Education said in a statement that any textbook which “avoids the topic of race when teaching the Civil Rights movement, slavery, segregation, etc. would not be adhering to Florida law.”
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