# Another case of GOP hypocrisy (how many is this now?) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 31, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101 "2023-01-31T15:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/1 "2023-01-31T15:49:59Z")
And fascism, and authoritarianism, and just plain goddamn evil. Ron DeSantis canceled the state’s AP course on African American studies. NPR says he calls it political agenda indoctrination. The Miami Herald article says the decision is because the course “lacks educational value,” whatever that means. (sources) [Florida rejects AP African American studies course : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2023/01/22/1150259944/florida-rejects-ap-class-african-american-studies) [https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article271821682.html](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article271821682.html) So much for the GOP’s past arguments against “government overreach,” “let parents, not the government, determine what their children learn,” “let the market decide,” etc. I guess by not teaching anything about African Americans, LGBTQ, or anyone else deemed “other,” those groups simply don’t exist. It’s a race to the bottom. And no one wins. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/2 "2023-01-31T15:54:09Z")
I would be willing to bet big money that nobody involved in this decision has actually read the course material and are basing their decisions on a few right-wing ideologs’ opinions (who also have not actually read the material). It’s all in line with the Trump mantra of “People say. . .”. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/3 "2023-01-31T16:49:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I would be willing to bet big money that nobody involved in this decision has actually read the course material and are basing their decisions on a few right-wing ideologs’ opinions (who also have not actually read the material). Actually, they are very explicit about which parts of the curriculum they object to. You might not believe the rational, or you may disagree with it, but you can’t argue that nobody actually actually read the material: > ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/4 "2023-01-31T16:57:56Z")
None of that proves they actually read the material (or the assigned reading). Out of context quotes from authors tell us nothing at all. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/5 "2023-01-31T17:39:22Z")
I did check the reviews of Kelley’s book, it is clear that historians, for example, praised the book about the history of the communists in Alabama, because in essence it does not praise Communism, but descibes how it was that the gross racism and inequalities made some fall for that idea. And how the activism of then was used later for better ideals. > **[Hammer and Hoe](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_and_Hoe)** > > Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression is a 1990 book on U.S. history by Robin D. G. Kelley. It describes labor, racial and social history in Alabama during the Great Depression, focusing on black communist organizing. In particular Hammer and Hoe describes the way black workers brought existing traditions of resistance to racial oppression to their development of a unique version of Marxism. The book won several prizes and was republished in a 25th anniversary edition Ro... > Reviewing _Hammer and Hoe_ for _[American Quarterly](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Quarterly)_ , historian [David Roediger](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Roediger) emphasized Kelley’s methodological approach as descriptive rather than normative project: “Kelley asks not whether the Communist party was good (or correct or independent) but how the party came to attract a substantial number of African-American workers in Alabama and to energize _their_ struggles [emphasis in the original]. Or, more exactly he asks how these black workers could embrace and use the Communist party as a vehicle for organizing themselves. He insists on measuring radicalism not by its ideological purity but by its ability to interact with a received culture to generate bold class organizations.”[[5]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_and_Hoe#cite_note-:1-5) Writing at _[The Nation](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nation)_ , [Sarah Jaffe](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Jaffe_(journalist)) says, “Kelley details […] how black workers in Alabama made communism their own, blending the teachings of [Marx](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx) and [Lenin](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin) with those of the [black church](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_church) and the lessons of decades of resistance to [slavery](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States), segregation, and racist terrorism.”[[2]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_and_Hoe#cite_note-:0-2) As Hegel would say, one grabs from history what is good from the past to make the present better, as in not looking at communism now, but how activism can make things better. And the admistrators in Florida can’t have that. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/6 "2023-01-31T17:45:16Z")
Thanks – that just shows how dishonest this bill is. They have a problem with discussing communism in history… or more likely, they have a problem with African American studies and used this book as a bullshit excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/7 "2023-01-31T18:55:24Z")
Anything that starts out with “Despite the lies from the Biden White House. . .” is not worth reading, as the author is already admittedly biased. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/8 "2023-01-31T19:24:28Z")
The author of the tweet is not the author of the image. The image is (or at least claims to be) from the Florida Department of Education. I would have liked to find a more primary source for this information, but none of the news articles I could find included links to the “Letter sent by the DoE to College Board” or any other documentation on what they were reporting. The only thing I found was a link to this tweet. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/9 "2023-01-31T19:51:50Z")
Taking the information from the tweeted image from the FL DoE (assuming it’s accurate – like tofor, I can’t say for certain it’s actually from the DoE, but it can turn out to be influential, even if it’s fake), I’ve found it to be…lacking. 1. The image states: "Intersectionality…ranks people based on their race, wealth, gender, and sexual orientation. At best, this is a gross (and unsurprisingly) misleading misinterpretation. Reality: The concept of intersectionality describes the ways in which systems of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class and other forms of discrimination “intersect” to create unique dynamics and effects. [what is intersectionality](https://www.intersectionaljustice.org/what-is-intersectionality) the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or [intersect](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intersect) especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups. [Intersectionality Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intersectionality) 1. The image states: Movement for Black Lives is an organization with stated objectives that include eliminating prisons and jails, ending pretrial detention, and concluding “the war on Black trans, queer, gender non-conforming, and intersex people.” Reality: We believe that prisons, police and all other institutions that inflict violence on Black people must be abolished and replaced by institutions that value and affirm the flourishing of Black lives. (emphasis mine) We believe in centering the experiences and leadership of the most marginalized Black people, including but not limited to those who are trans and queer, women and femmes, currently and formerly incarcerated, immigrants, disabled, working class, and poor. > **[ABOUT US - M4BL](https://m4bl.org/about-us/)** > > WHO WE ARE We believe that prisons, police and all other institutions that inflict violence on Black people must be abolished and replaced by institutions that value and affirm the flourishing of Black lives. We believe in centering the experiences... I’m not going to go into the rest of it, because these two make my point. The idiot(s) who wrote that take everything out of context for the purpose of emotionally feeding their low-information followers who are unwilling or unable to think critically. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/10 "2023-01-31T20:53:07Z")
Note: There is already a thread about this in Politics & Elections: > [@Florida Rejects AP Course in African American Studies](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-rejects-ap-course-in-african-american-studies/978486): > > Florida has refused to allow a pilot program for AP African American Studies in its public schools. In a letter, the state Department of Education reputedly wrote that the course was historically inaccurate and would violate state law. As reported by [The National Review](https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/desantis-ap-african-american-studies-program-violates-florida-law/) this afternoon and picked up by [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/19/us/desantis-florida-ap-african-american-studies.html), [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/01/19/florida-desantis-ap-african-american-history/), [The Hill](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3819973-desantis-administration-rejects-ap-african-american-studies-for-florida-schools/), [The Huffington Post](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/florida-bans-ap-african-american-history-course_n_63c9a7ede4b0c2b49ad4053b), [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/politics/ron-desantis-ap-african-american-studies/index.html), [ABC](https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-gov-ron-desantis-administration-rejects-african-american/story?id=96547653), [CBS](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ap-african-american-studies-florida-desantis/), [MSN](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/desantis-administration-rejects-inclusion-of-ap-african-american-studies-class-in-florida-high-schools/ar-AA16wHnj), [USA Today](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/01/19/florida-rejects-proposed-ap-african-american-studies-course/11083672002/), [Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/ron-desantis-blocks-ap-african-american-studies-course-1234663155/), etc., even our very own #the-bbq-pit ([here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-2/959018/7103)), but curiously not Fox News as of t… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/11 "2023-01-31T21:32:38Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > The author of the tweet is not the author of the image. The image is (or at least claims to be) from the Florida Department of Education. But, as soon as you see “lies from the Biden White House”, you know the bias of the sender. From the image, I see a couple of things that _might_ fall afoul of the Florida anti-CRT law (this is a college-level curriculum, so “CRT” may actually be appropriate), and a couple that break the general understanding of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” (except this is college level, not elementary), and several that have nothing to do whatsoever with breaking any specific laws, meaning that the entire Florida Department of Education has been politicized by DeSantos. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/12 "2023-01-31T23:24:18Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > or more likely, they have a problem with African American studies ISTM they’re doing a rather good job of showing that more likey they have a problem with African Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/13 "2023-02-01T01:55:58Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > ISTM they’re doing a rather good job of showing that more likey they have a problem with African Americans. I honestly don’t think Ron DeSantis actually gives fuck all about blacks or LGBQT people or anyone eles. He’s just a fine little fascist looking for a scapegoat, and he watched Trump ride a wave of thinly veiled prejudice, inflated by dog whistles and openly naked appeals to hate and figured, “If that moron can do it, why not me?” As the would be _Il Duce_ of the Kingdom of Florida, he just needs a good scapegoat, whether it is blacks, queers, abortionists, Jews, drag queens, teachers, or just kids who want to read books. It’s hard to call anything that the modern GOP does as hypocrisy when they’re so nakedly self -serving in it. There isn’t even a pretense of ‘family values’ or any appeal to an actual morality. It’s is just about hating on the most available minority with vigor and vim. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/14 "2023-02-01T01:58:02Z")
The only issue I have with that post, **Stranger** , is that you seem to think Tan the Conman’s prejudice was veiled. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/15 "2023-02-01T02:18:09Z")
_Thinly_ veiled, as in “very fine people on both sides” while making it clear where his alliances fell. And Trump is about as savvy as a fishmonger in Montana. DeSantis is actually kind of smart and can take notes to capture what works and what falls flat. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/16 "2023-02-01T02:19:37Z")
Importantly, the fact that something is “included reading” does not imply uncritically accepting all the material without discussion. I mean, it’s a game you could play with any course. Find any book that is in the included reading, then find any section in it with a view that can be spun as being commie or lefty or whatever, then push the idea that the course is trying to indoctrinate kids with that view. Another thing is the references to the lessons as “4.19” or whatever…indicating how small a part these topics likely take in the whole syllabus anyway. When tan the conman (I like that) did his press conference, one sleight of hand was to say there was a lesson on “queer theory” and then seamlessly pivot to a head-wobbling rhetorical flourish about Who would say that it is an _important_ part of black history? When of course, having a lesson on something does not imply it is a pivotal piece, just that it is relevant enough to warrant one lesson within what is actually a pretty broad topic. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/17 "2023-02-01T03:17:07Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > tan the conman (I like that) Thanks. I started that just two years ago. That’s my way of refusing to use the twerp’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/18 "2023-02-01T14:58:39Z")
It fits so well. The only downside I can see is that people can legitimately ask: “Which one?” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/19 "2023-02-01T17:50:13Z")
The college board folds like a white sheet: [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/us/college-board-advanced-placement-african-american-studies.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/us/college-board-advanced-placement-african-american-studies.html) > [@](#): > > After heavy criticism from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the College Board [released](https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-african-american-studies-course-framework.pdf) on Wednesday an official curriculum for its new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies — stripped of much of the subject matter that had angered the governor and other conservatives. > > And it added something new: “Black conservatism” is now offered as an idea for a research project. The head of the board denied the changes were political, however. The article does state that content on Africa, slavery, reconstruction, and civil rights haven’t changed. More modern information (Black Lives Matter, etc.) is now optional. The fact remains that the board got rid of several authors who were in the curriculum. In the end, all these idiot conservatives will lose. It’s just a matter of how much damage they’ll cause before they do. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101/20 "2023-02-01T22:22:52Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > The college board folds like a white sheet That’s where their point is, of course. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-case-of-gop-hypocrisy-how-many-is-this-now/979101.md?page=2)