,

What Year Is It? A Florida University Is Removing Anti-Racist Statements From Website

The University of Central Florida is removing statements of anti-racism from department sites as part of Gov. DeSantis' "Stop WOKE Act."

If you want to learn more about the University of Central Floridaโ€™s stance on racism, you wonโ€™t find the information on the website. In fact, the Orlando public research university is taking steps to remove anti-racist statements from its departmentsโ€™ websites. Youโ€™re probably thinking that this is a huge step in the wrong direction for an institution that is supposed to be shaping young minds, and you wouldnโ€™t be wrong. However, it is in line with the โ€œStop WOKE Act,โ€ a law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) that limits the way race is discussed in schools and the workplace.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

But the website edits are unsettling to some UCF faculty members, including Ann Gleig, a UCF religious studies professor. She says the universityโ€™s philosophy department took great care to create their statement on anti-racism in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. โ€œThis is a complete infringement of academic freedom,โ€ she said. โ€œThe statement was crafted over a period of time with dialogue and input across a twenty person plus faculty trained in philosophy, religion and cultural studies and the humanities.โ€

The โ€œStop WOKE Actโ€, which was signed into law in April, is part of Governor DeSantisโ€™ half-baked plan to โ€œtake on both corporate wokeness and critical race theory.โ€ The new law bans teaching that any group is โ€œinherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciouslyโ€ or that a person or group โ€œbears personal responsibility for and must feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress.โ€ More specifically, it is meant to sanitize the way our countryโ€™s history is taught so as not to make white people feel guilty about slavery and other wrongdoings of the past.

But State Rep. Carlos G. Smith (D-FL), who graduated from UCF, is calling BS. The stateโ€™s first LGBTQ Latino legislator expressed his disappointment with Governor DeSantis and the universityโ€™s recent move on Twitter, writing:

โ€œThe DeSantis regime has made the anti-racist mission of my alma mater AGAINST THE LAW. This is a consequence of HB 7 and the Governorโ€™s out-of-control censorship agenda. This is not freedom.โ€

https://twitter.com/CarlosGSmith/status/1547300786291576837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.