Donalds responds to state’s changes in Black history instruction standards

By NATHAN MAYBERG nmayberg@breezenewspapers com

Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, R-19, weighed in on the state’s controversial new Black history teaching standards, giving them an overall thumbs up with one caveat

He called them “good, robust and accurate. That being said, the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong and needs to be adjusted ”

In a post on Twitter X, the Naples Republican who is the GOP’s lone B l a c k c o n g r e s s m a n r e p r e s e n t i n g Florida, also said that the attempts to feature the personal benefits of slavery “obviously wasn’t the goal and I have faith that FLDOE (Florida Department of Education) will correct this ”

Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz responded to Donalds the same day on Twitter by saying, “The federal government won’t dictate Florida’s education standards This new curriculum is based on truth We will not back down from teaching our nation’s true history at the behest of a woke White House, nor at the behest of a supposedly conservative congressman ”

Donalds’ district covers Fort Myers Beach and most of Lee County

Last week, the Florida Board of Education approved a revision of the state’s Black history curriculum for Social Studies classes which was meant to satisfy the requirements of the Stop W O K E Act approved by the Florida state legislature and signed by Gov Ron DeSantis last year.

The new standards include instruction that enslaved people benefited from skills that they learned The issue

See DONALDS, page 18