by Ron Porter
Dear Governor DeSantis:
Your proudly proclaimed “anti-woke” agenda resonates with many. The 4.6 million votes you received for the 2022 Florida governor’s race is testimony to your popularity.
Furthermore, I agree with you that there are elements of “wokeness” that are downright silly. (I say this at my own peril. Some people within my personal orbit define themselves as woke). Not allowing differing perspectives to be discussed on college campuses is a great affront to academic freedom. Defund the Police clearly misstates a plea to reallocate law enforcement financial resources to address core issues of community instability more effectively. Attempts to cancel comedians because they joke about specific groups is offensive and demonstrative of a shallow sense of humor.
During your inauguration earlier this year you said, “We must ensure that our institutions of higher learning are focused on academic excellence and the pursuit of truth, not the imposition of trendy ideologies,”
Sir, do you believe it is a “trendy ideology” to teach students our national history is inclusive of deep wounds and massive healing?
Sir, do you contend “all men are created equal” is truth or hyperbole?
Sir, do you believe educating students our national banking system purposefully excluded African Americans from loans to purchase homes in an unbiased housing market is not relevant? Do you believe students should understand today’s concentrations of urban poverty are not accidental?
Sir, do you assert the conscious decision to underfund schools serving African American students has not impacted their readiness for participation in today’s employment marketplace?
Sir, is it your position the disproportionate rate of incarceration of African Americans is disconnected from national law enforcement policies and practices? In Florida, Black people constituted 17 percent of state residents, but 39 percent of people in jail and 47 percent of people in prison.
Sir, is your heart and spirit oblivious to the vestiges of slavery and endemic oppression that maintain theories of White racial superiority?
Sir, have Lincoln’s “better angels of our nature” been pushed aside for political expediency?
Sir, do you believe the economic malaise that impacts multiple communities of color is a choice rather than an imposition?
Sir, are you ready to accept the consequences of banning books and revising documented history?
Sir, do you envision yourself as a transformational leader with the skills to find common ground rather than slog through the partisan mud of division and recrimination?
Mr. DeSantis, it is widely reported you aspire to be president of the United States. You have a choice to make. Will you dare to take a step toward finding common ground? Will you choose to dam the rivers of divisiveness and create a reservoir of hope and compromise?
Our great country barely survived the Civil War. The shells from a century and a half ago continue to detonate in our midst. Woke is an explosive fuse. Please be careful: the fire next time will not be easily extinguished.
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