# "Florida Schools Will Teach How Slavery Brought ‘Personal Benefit’ to Black People" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 20, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304 "2023-07-20T14:46:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [July 20, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/1 "2023-07-20T14:38:53Z")
Jim Crow is alive and well: > **[A Black Man Was Elected Mayor in Rural Alabama, but the White Town Leaders...](https://capitalbnews.org/newbern-alabama-black-mayor/?fbclid=IwAR1wAW-gNwIe3M8g8j_0ekKP0oNsDTyND_MyoPfHwObecaY1t0XiSkH_4ew)** > > For three years, Patrick Braxton says he has experienced harassment and intimidation after becoming the first Black mayor in Newbern, Alabama. In this instance, a small town in Alabama had an archaic and byzantine executive political system that meant mayors were rarely actually elected. A Black resident decided to run for mayor, a challenging process that required outside help, but he did it and won the election. The white majority council subsequently lawlessly prevented him from taking office and doing his job. A few years after being elected, he still hasn’t actually been able to take office. > **[Florida board OKs Black history standards, rejects concerns about omitting...](https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/19/florida-state-approves-african-american-history-standards-rejects-concerns-about-omitting-history/70428361007/?fbclid=IwAR03cWyuR9oOC54v5JpU2wAGEyayw5FAdK-fLCcOgPfTEAaJu-Jt72Q32QU)** > > In a letter to board member Ben Gibson, a group of 11 organizations, including the NAACP and the Florida Education Association, criticized the state for omitting or rewriting “key historical facts about the Black experience.” In this instance, Florida presents new education standards. There are many objectionable pieces to this one, but I want to focus on a particularly egregious one. The Ocoee massacre in 1920 involved a Black man who tried to vote, a White mob chasing him to take refuge in another Black man’s home. The mob surrounded the man’s house and tried to break in. The homeowner chased off the house-breaking mob with a gun, killing 2. The White mob gathered reinforcements and attacked the Black part of town, murdering at least 30 Black civilians, including women and children. The new standards want to assign blame for this massacre to both parties. Please use this thread to track, discuss, and criticize other instances of modern Jim Crow in America. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/2 "2023-07-20T14:46:48Z")
What the actual fuck Florida??? > **[Florida Schools to Tell Kids Slavery Benefited Black People](https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people)** > > The Florida Board of Education has approved shocking new standards for African American history, despite overwhelming backlash from the public. Bugs Bunny had it right. ![](https://media.tenor.com/XZLJcpTRNtsAAAAC/florida-bugs-bunny.gif) ---
**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:** [July 20, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/3 "2023-07-20T14:51:53Z")
I started a broader thread that includes this just a few minutes before you did: [https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-jim-crow-in-america/987303?u=iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-jim-crow-in-america/987303) ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/4 "2023-07-20T15:01:26Z")
I just read the article on the new Florida education standards and “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit”. Sort of like how the holocaust provided an immersive learning experience on thermal and combustion properties, chemistry, medicine, and team-building under stress. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/5 "2023-07-20T15:37:59Z")
One of their own newspapers earlier this year detailed how badly the school system is doing. 4th graders in Florida consistently rank around the top 5 states in math performance, but by the time they hit 8th grade they’re down to 30th and lower, easily good for worst 4th-to-8th performance in the country. > **[Florida’s education system is vastly underperforming | Column](https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2023/01/05/floridas-education-system-is-vastly-underperforming-column/)** > > A close look at ‘the Nation’s Report Card’ shows how Florida fails its students as they move up through the grades. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/6 "2023-07-20T17:14:36Z")
Don’t blame Florida. Blame DeSantis. The R Party slipped a shill in as the D candidate last time to ensure DeSantis won. The rest of the red states intend to runthe same play in 2024. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/7 "2023-07-20T17:19:52Z")
We can’t blame Florida voters for either letting themselves be duped and/or voting DeSantis? I hope universities take a special hard look at any applicants from Florida. Florida seems hell bent on authoritarianism. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/8 "2023-07-20T17:23:36Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I hope universities take a special hard look on any applicants from Florida. I hope accreditation boards take a hard look at Florida universities. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/9 "2023-07-20T17:33:05Z")
Has Florida changed their state slogan to “We’ve got what plants crave. We’ve got electrolytes.” yet? ---
**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:** [July 20, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/10 "2023-07-20T17:38:06Z")
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but from what little I can find, it looks like “slavery benefitted black people” is a serious mischaracterization of what they’re actually supposed to be teaching. I found a [CNN article](https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/20/us/florida-black-history-education-standards-reaj/index.html) with a link to the [document listing the standards and posted in the Florida Department of Education website](https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/20653/urlt/6-4.pdf). The actual wording of the part in question appears to be > [@](#): > > Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agricultural > work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, > transportation). > Benchmark Clarifications: > Clarification 1: Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be > applied for their personal benefit. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/11 "2023-07-20T17:39:44Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > “slavery benefitted black people” is a serious mischaracterization of what they’re actually supposed to be teaching. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Clarification 1: Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be > applied for their personal benefit. Not sure what you are missing here. It’s in your own cite. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/12 "2023-07-20T17:41:15Z")
Now, isn’t that special. I have long figured that “MAGA” meant a return to the 1950’s – to the era of Jim Crow and before the Civil Rights Act. Silly me. They want to take the US back to the 1850’s – to the era before Emancipation. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/13 "2023-07-20T17:42:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Clarification 1: Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be > applied for their personal benefit. I guess I’m a victim on not having a Florida high school education. But I find it hard to categorize learning, for example, to be a wood worker as a slave as having much personal benefit for the slave, who remains a slave, just with a skill. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/14 "2023-07-20T17:45:14Z")
Well, after a 12-hour day repairing wagons in the cotton field, and after having been whipped or watched another enslaved person being whipped, the woodworker could build their own house, sell it, take that money and buy the materials to build a bigger house, sell that, and sooner or later, they will be billionaires, just like Trump! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/15 "2023-07-20T17:48:18Z")
And no thank you note? No small gift of appreciation? The nerve of some people. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/16 "2023-07-20T17:51:56Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Not sure what you are missing here. I’m not sure what I’m missing either. But to say that they were, in some instances, allowed to use the skills they developed as slaves for their own personal benefit means something quite different in my mind from an assertion that they benefitted from being slaves. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/17 "2023-07-20T17:54:10Z")
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/18 "2023-07-20T17:54:16Z")
Learning a skill is fine. What Florida is trying to insinuate is that slavery is good because slaves _might_ learn a skill. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/19 "2023-07-20T17:58:27Z")
It may not be the case that enslaved workers “learned the skill on their own” so much as “were taught to perform different duties as slaves.” No one doubts that different kinds of labour on plantations may have been better or worse or that some skills exploited by the enslaver might be used by people after their enforced labour was done. Or that enslaved people exercised some agency. The real question is one of emphasis. Sort of like saying “Okay, Columbus engendered genocide, but wow! What a navigator” or “Columbus was a good navigator, but he participated in the genocide of thousands.” ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304/20 "2023-07-20T17:58:57Z")
This is infuriating, but I think it’s too late for the majority of kids. Secret’s out. Most of us have learned BS about the past in school. I hope things change, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-schools-will-teach-how-slavery-brought-personal-benefit-to-black-people/987304.md?page=2)