VP Harris rejects DeSantis’ offer to discuss African American history standards during Florida visit

Vice President Kamala Harris made her second trip to the Sunshine State in less than a month Tuesday afternoon, speaking at the African Methodist Episcopal 20th Women’s Missionary Society Quadrennial Convention in Orlando.

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The speech touched on many topics including abortion rights, gun safety, faith and voting rights, but the biggest applause came during remarks reminiscent of those she delivered at the Ritz Theater in Jacksonville less than two weeks ago, denouncing Florida’s new African American history standards.

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Harris accused Florida of banning books and described the state’s new standards as an “attempt to erase and ever rewrite the ugly parts of our history”.

In recent weeks, her criticism has honed in on the inclusion of a lesson on skill slaves learned, “which in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit”.

“Right here in Florida they plan to teach students that enslaved people benefited from slavery,” Harris said.

UCF political science professor Dr. Aubrey Jewett told Action News Jax it makes sense for the Biden Administration to target Florida, the home state of Presidential candidates Governor Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump.

He added the messenger isn’t surprising either.

Read: Florida Department of Education proposes rule to address ‘substantial math deficiency’ in students

“Traditionally Vice Presidents during campaigns have often been used as the attack dogs,” Jewett said.

Just one day prior to Harris’ remarks Tuesday, Governor Ron DeSantis sent a letter to the Vice President, inviting her to Tallahassee as early as Wednesday to discuss the state’s new standards noting she has, “no trouble ducking down to Florida on short notice”.

She responded from the podium.

“There is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact. There were no redeeming qualities of slavery,” Harris said.

The DeSantis administration has countered critiques suggesting the state’s standards were intended to paint slavery in a positive light, pointing to a component in the AP African American studies course that shares stark similarities.

The Vice President was among many who lambasted Florida’s decision to nix the course earlier this year, arguing it amounted to erasing history.

Read: Gov. DeSantis’ administration battles to halt Federal drag show ruling block to uphold state law

“It’s clear that scholars across the country agree that this standard is in there, it’s the truth. Not a benefit of slavery, but despite slavery that these individuals were able to persevere and acquire these skills,” Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said in an interview with Action News Jax last week.

We asked the Vice President’s team for comment on the comparison drawn by the DeSantis administration between the AP and Florida standards last week, but still have not heard back.

Jewett said he’s not surprised the Vice President would decline DeSantis’ offer.

“I would think from their perspective, okay this is gonna be like a political setup where DeSantis and his team somehow just realter the facts and I think for Democrats it’s much better for them just to keep pounding away at what they consider to be the basic and obvious points,” Jewett said.

Jewett added the campaign-like tone of the Vice President’s Florida speeches isn’t surprising, as Democrats have indicated they plan to invest heavily in Florida in 2024.

Unlike in 2022, where DeSantis coasted to a 20-point landslide victory.

“If Democrats want to be competitive, the first thing they’ve got to do is actually compete,” Jewett said.

But he emphasized the focus on Florida is about more than just Florida.

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“And so, it does send a message I think to Democrats all across the country, hey, we’re going to attack Florida, we’re going to attack everywhere we think that there’s Republican excess,” Jewett said.

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