Kamala Harris refuses to debate DeSantis on new Florida Black history standards. Here's what to know on feud

Vice President Kamala Harris rejected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' invitation to discuss the new state Black history standards for schools on Tuesday, saying she won't be debating slavery.

Speaking at the African Methodist Episcopal convention in Orlando, Harris continued to reject the curriculum and said it was meant to "rewrite history."

“We will not stop calling out and fighting back against extremist, so-called leaders who try to prevent our children from learning our true and full history,” Harris said.

Florida officials have been in hot water since the coursework's implementation, with critics saying it is whitewashing history. Many highlight issues, such as — it leaves out Florida's role in slavery and the oppression of African Americans, identifying racism and prejudice without going into depth about who was promoting it, victim-blames Black communities, using outdated language, and requiring teaching that some enslaved people learned valuable skills that were useful after they were freed.

For supporters, many dismiss the complaints entirely and claim that the new descriptions and examples are both factual and well-documented.

Curriculum approved: Florida board OKs Black history standards, rejects concerns about omitting 'key' facts

What's in Florida's new African American History curriculum?

The Florida Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the social studies standards for African American history for kindergarten through 12th grade on July 19.

More: What's in Florida's new Black history standards? Read the approved curriculum here

• "Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."

• "Instruction includes acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans but is not limited to ...1920 Ocoee Massacre" (The Orange County Regional History Center called the Ocoee Massacre the "largest incident of voting-day violence in United States history." A white mob lynched a Black man after he attempted to vote and then went on to kill an unknown number of other African-American citizens and burn down their homes.)

• The curriculum does not include Florida's role in upholding slavery and segregation by seceding from the Union during the Civil War or by passing a resolution that opposed the Supreme Court's decision, Brown v. Board of Education.

• Critics also say that the new curriculum does not use person-first language by using the term "slave" instead of "enslaved people."

Why did the Florida Board of Education write a new African American History curriculum?

Florida has been required to teach the history, culture, experiences, and contributions of African Americans in the state’s K-12 curriculum since 1994 when the Florida Legislature created the African History Task Force to write it.

Due to Republican presidential candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis, signing the "Stop WOKE Act" (CS/HB 7) last year, it prohibited any teaching that could make students feel they bear personal responsibility, guilt, anguish, or "other forms of psychological distress" for actions in the past committed by members of their own race, and blocked instruction that suggested anyone was "either privileged or oppressed" based on race or skin color.

Florida's State Academic Standards - Social Studies, 2023.pdf

It also requires discussions about race to be taught in an "objective manner" and bans any discussion “used to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view.” And that meant the curriculum needed to be rewritten to fall in line with the new state-approved requirements.

The new 216-page social studies curriculum has been praised by the state Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz. "Florida is focused on teaching true and accurate African American history," he tweeted.

Why did Vice President Kamala Harris denounce the curriculum?

Harris spoke out against the new measures, calling the changes "misleading and false" propaganda made by extremists.

In downtown Jacksonville on July 21, Harris said “that in the State of Florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery,” in response to the coursework developed by Allen’s working group.

“They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it."

Harris criticized the curriculum and the lengths DeSantis has gone to reduce the "woke agenda," adding that those responsible for the curriculum were wanting to “replace history with lies.” She also highlighted other measures in the state, such as recent book banning and the 'Don't Say Gay bill.

“I do believe this is not only about the state of Florida. There is a national agenda afoot,” Harris told an overflow crowd at the history-laden Ritz Theatre and Museum in LaVilla.

How did DeSantis respond to Harris' public disapproval?

On Monday, DeSantis penned a letter inviting the vice president to Tallahassee to discuss the standards with him and one of the members of Florida’s African American History Standards Workgroup, which spearheaded writing the new standards, William B. Allen. He also accused her of trying to “score cheap political points.”

“In Florida, we are unafraid to have an open and honest dialogue about issues. And you clearly have no trouble ducking down to Florida on short notice," the letter reads. "So given your grave concern (which, I must assume, is sincere) about what you think our standards say, I am officially inviting you back down to Florida to discuss our African American History standards."

DeSantis' letter also took a jab at Harris over the situation at the U.S. southern border and taunted her over a last-minute trip she made to Jacksonville last month to speak out against the new standards.

While campaigning in New Hampshire this week, DeSantis addressed the feud with Harris, saying he wanted to "dispense the narrative" and dismiss the idea that he's picking a fight.

“She came to Florida to attack us, and she’s trying to attack me, but she’s really attacking the people that worked hard on this and have done, you know, a lot of yeoman’s work,” DeSantis said to reporters. “It’s wrong to let false narratives stand, and they’ve been doing this to us for years from the White House and we fought back every time.”

Who else responded to Kamala Harris' comments?

Allen criticized Harris on ABC News for promoting false criticisms of the curriculum. He said it is the case that "Africans proved resourceful, resilient, and adaptive, and were able to develop skills and aptitudes which served to their benefit, both while enslaved and after enslaved."

"I just want to foster and encourage everyone to take the time to read, or as I said in my response to the vice president, I think every intellect can understand the language written there if people only take the time to read it," Allen told reporters. "It’s only those who don’t take the time to read it who will misstate it."

Florida GOP Congressman Byron Donalds, a prominent Black supporter of Donald Trump, supported the majority of the curriculum. However, he publically criticized the part of the standard that suggests enslaved people benefited from slavery, as reported by the Tallahassee Democrat.

Seemingly supporting Harris, Donalds found himself in hot water from fellow Republicans, including DeSantis.

"Let's be very clear, I don't even have a criticism. This is a dumb story, and this was brought to us by the DeSantis campaign. They're the ones who made this an issue," Donald said in an appearance on FOX News, defending his comments. "I've been very clear that the standards are robust, they are accurate, they are good. Students in Florida will learn Black history. But my issue is with one sentence of the entire thing – one sentence of 200 pages."

Did Kamala Harris agree to debate Ron DeSantis?

No, she did not.

Harris, while speaking in Florida Tuesday during a previously scheduled event, dismissed DeSantis' – though not by name – offer for a debate on the new curriculum.

“They attempt to legitimize these unnecessary debates with a proposal that most recently came in of a politically motivated roundtable,” Harris during her afternoon speech at the 20th Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church Quadrennial Convention in Orlando. “Well, I’m here in Florida, and I will tell you there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact. There were no redeeming qualities of slavery.”

She continued: "Adults know what slavery really involved. It involved rape. It involved torture. It involved taking a baby from their mother."

"There was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization" is false and misleading," the vice president said. "And it is pushing propaganda."

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Harris denies DeSantis' offer to discuss controversial curriculum