Florida’s Board of Education bans diversity and inclusion programs from state colleges

Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. says he wants to prevent college students from exposure to “radical woke ideologies” — and on Wednesday, the state’s Board of Education voted unanimously to pass a rule that effectively bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs and activities from Florida’s 28 state colleges.

The State Board of Education also voted to replace the course “Principles of Sociology” with a course in American history. In announcing the change, board members agreed it was necessary in order “to provide students with an accurate and factual account of the nation’s past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now replaced course.”

“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” Diaz said in a news release. “These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.”

The new rule implements strict regulations that limit the use of public funds for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, activities and policies within the Florida college system — prohibiting these institutions from using state or federal funds to administer the programs.

On Friday, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson responded, decrying what his organization calls a “step backward for educational justice in Florida.”

“Today’s actions by the Florida state government are an attempt to bring our country back to a 19th century America where Black life was not valued, nor our rights protected. It is imperative that we understand that the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow were a violation of human rights and represent the darkest period in American history,” Johnson said in a news release. “We refuse to go back. The NAACP has been fighting against malicious actors such as those within the DeSantis Administration for over a century, and we’re prepared to continue that fight by any means necessary. Our children deserve nothing less than truth, justice, and the equity our ancestors shed blood, sweat, and tears for.”