Florida Democrats are attempting to use a state law that censors books in public schools against the governor who signed it, Ron DeSantis, by asking schools to review or ban the Republican governor’s own book, The Courage to be Free. In March 2022, DeSantis enacted a law known as the Parental Rights in Education bill, which was criticized by some as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill”.[0] Florida’s schools are prohibited by law from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity until the fourth grade.[1] The DeSantis administration presented proposals in the beginning of this month to expand this law to cover all grades in schools.[0] Democrats in Florida are trying to use a state law allowing certain books to be reviewed and possibly removed from school curricula to ban DeSantis’s memoir. Fentrice Driskell, who serves as the minority leader in the Florida House, is spearheading a campaign spanning 50 counties to investigate whether any of them could potentially scrutinize or prohibit Governor DeSantis’ book due to the ambiguous and cumbersome standards set forth by his legislation.[2] Driskell and other Democrats reportedly identified 17 instances in “The Courage to Be Free” that could potentially “violate Florida law,” including many instances of DeSantis using the terms “woke” and “gender ideology,” which “could constitute as ‘divisive content.’” However, the district responded saying that no school in the county, which is home to roughly 400,000 people, possesses the book.[3] The district replied that they cannot assess the objections as a whole since their schools do not possess any copies of the book in their collections.[4] The rejection of nearly 50 titles over content in Duval County became a flashpoint during Congressional debate on a federal “Parents’ Bill of Rights” last week.[5] On Wednesday, Yale University history professor Timothy D. Snyder claimed that the book banning attempts by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) bear resemblance to communist practices.[6] Speaking on MSNBC, Snyder said: “When I look at Florida what I think about is communism.[0] Banning books, prohibiting public gatherings, targeting specific authors, and making public condemnations.[0] “It’s funny, all this stuff is supposed to be anti-communist but as a historian of communism, that reminds me of some of the basic things that were wrong about communism.[6]
0. “DeSantis Policies in Florida Reminiscent of Communism, Historian Says” Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/desantis-policies-florida-reminiscent-communism-historian-says-1791538
1. “Democrats troll Ron DeSantis with calls to ban his own book from Florida schools” LGBTQ Nation, 4 Apr. 2023, https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/04/democrats-troll-ron-desantis-with-calls-to-ban-his-own-book-from-florida-schools/
2. “Florida Democrats try to use GOP’s book review, removal process against DeSantis memoir” msnNOW, 4 Apr. 2023, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/florida-dems-try-to-use-gop-s-book-review-removal-process-against-desantis-memoir/ar-AA19t4bK
3. “Florida Democrats are trying to use Ron DeSantis’ book laws against his own recently published book” Yahoo! Voices, 4 Apr. 2023, https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-democrats-trying-ron-desantis-120730438.html
4. “Governor’s office: Democrat plan to challenge DeSantis book in schools is a ‘stunt'” Florida’s Voice, 4 Apr. 2023, https://flvoicenews.com/governors-office-calls-democrats-plan-to-challenge-desantis-book-in-schools-a-stunt/
5. “EXPLORE: Duval Schools rejected these 34 books under Florida’s new laws” Jacksonville Today, 28 Mar. 2023, https://jaxtoday.org/2023/03/28/explore-duval-schools-rejected-these-34-books-under-floridas-new-laws/
6. “Historian Likens Ron DeSantis’ Book Bans To Communism” HuffPost, 31 Mar. 2023, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/yale-professor-ron-desantis-book-bans_n_642696c7e4b02a8d518df5a9
