Vice President Harris Makes Historic Visit to Florida, Criticizes State’s Educational Standards for Teaching Black History

Vice President Kamala Harris made history on Friday as the first Black person to hold the position, and used the opportunity to speak out against the Florida Board of Education’s new standards for teaching Black history in schools.

In Jacksonville, the Republican governor’s home turf, Harris called the standards an effort by extremist leaders to spread propaganda. She said the curriculum, which suggests some slaves reaped benefits from the skills they acquired during forced labor, was based on a policy intent on misleading children.

Harris also criticized Governor Ron DeSantis for his administration’s controversial educational standards for teaching about Black history. She said, “These extremist, so-called leaders should model what we know to be the correct and right approach if we really are invested in the well being of our children. Instead, they dare to push propaganda to our children.”

The Vice President had met with local teachers and civil rights activists before giving her speech, and her visit to the state was a last-minute trip. Harris’s speech was an aggressive response to GOP efforts nationwide to ban books and curtail rights in and out of the classroom.

The Vice President’s visit to Florida was a powerful reminder of the importance of teaching accurate history in schools. Harris’s speech was a strong rebuke of the state’s educational standards, and her presence in the state was a sign of solidarity with teachers and civil rights activists.