You Cannot Tell Florida History Without Black History
An open letter to Ron DeSantis and Manny Diaz on Florida’s curriculum
Map of Spanish East and West Florida circa 1805 by John Cary, via Wikimedia commons
Dear Governor DeSantis and Commissioner Diaz,
On a moonlit night in early September 1812, a wagon train wound its way through the murky, rain-soaked swamps of central Florida. Its destination: Davis Creek. Its objective: to secure supplies for the beleaguered US militia and army at Fort Mosé, just outside St. Augustine. They had besieged the city in an attempt to take Spanish East Florida, but supplies were running low. They desperately needed reinforcements. Just as the soldiers were about to set up camp for the night, blood-curdling cries pierced the silence. Gunshots rang out. Men painted in fearsome black and red ambushed the Americans, mortally wounding their captain and forcing them to retreat back from whence they came. The supply line was cut. There would be no reinforcements now. The Patriot war was effectively over. The first attempt to bring East Florida into the United States was an utter failure. The Americans had to withdraw. While at first glance these attackers might seem like Native Seminole warriors, they are in fact mostly free black militiamen. These were men fighting for their freedom. They were from Cuba, from Africa, from Florida. They knew what would happen to them if the United States took Florida, and they stood against it. And, against all odds, they won. This is just one of the many examples of how African Americans shaped Florida history. From the first Spanish conquistadors to the civil rights movement, African-Americans were here. You cannot tell the story of Florida without Black People.
In fourth grade, Florida’s schoolchildren learn about our state’s past. Last year, Florida’s school board decided to put in a curriculum that is utterly antithetical to any understanding of Florida’s storied history, even at a fourth grade level. It stipulates that students should learn some of the positive aspects of slavery, such as how slaves learned trades. A new law passed outlawing the teaching of ‘critical race theory’, a concept so utterly devoid of meaning teachers are left scratching their heads on what is and is not acceptable. Queer people too are not to be taught about (I suppose the legislature and school board has never been to Ybor City). Instead, patriotic education is what Governer DeSantis envisions. An education that only says good things about America, and not any of that bad stuff. A light history so inoffensive that white children don’t have to learn about the horrors of racism or genocide. Only hokey jingoism. It is a curriculum designed to never learn anything from the past; a history that is completely phony.
Walking through downtown St. Augustine, it’s hard to imagine it being a battleground of the Civil Rights Movement. Only here and in Atlanta are there streets named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that he actually walked upon. You would never guess this small southern town would feature so prominently in that movement 60 years ago. You would never guess the terror and violence this town was capable of 60 years ago. Dr. Robert Hayling, a local dentist, was dragged out of his home by klan members and nearly beaten to death. Four children were held in an adult prison for 7 months just for sitting at a lunch counter and refusing to give up their First Amendment right to protest until they turned 21. Shootings, acid attacks, fire bombings, protesters assaulted with cattle prods; chaos. St. Augustine was so violent, it was one of the few cities in Florida to Re-segregate after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, owing to segregationist terrorism. But why did this all happen? What was the catalyst? It’s simple: Black history. The city would turn 400 in 1964, and its small but vocal African American population wanted to be commemorated for their contributions alongside the white population. When the quadcentenial committee refused to allow a black member on, the protests started.
Owner of the Monson Motor Lodge, James Brock, pours Muriatic acid on swim-in protestors in a segregated swimming pool. Photo by unknown journalist, 1964, used without permission via Wikipedia.
The reasoning of the segregationist city council of St. Augustine of 1964 and Governor Ron DeSantis of today are identical: that Black History is not Florida history. The idea that one can tell Florida history without telling black history is impossible. It can’t be done. What was one of the factors behind why Florida became a state? Slaves were escaping here and earning their freedom. Where were African Slaves first brought to the North American continent? Arguably Florida. Where did some of the biggest clashes of the Civil Rights Movement take place? Florida. Who built Florida? Black people. Who still lives here in Florida? Black people. Who deserves recognition for their contributions to our history? Black people.
Photo of the monument to the St. Augustine Foot Soldiers by Carlstak via Wikimedia, used under Creative Commons license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Yet, the state cries that if we demonize segregationists and slavers, then we might endorse black students discriminating against white students. This is far from the truth. In all actuality, white people are not a monolith, much like how black people aren’t either. There’s always decisions to be made, choices to be had. What one chooses should decide his or her own legacy. When walking around the Plaza de la Constitución in St. Augustine, there is a monument to the so-called “Foot Soldiers” of St. Augustine during the civil rights movement. The four busts don’t represent specific people, but rather amalgamations of protestors from photographs. One of them is very clearly a young white boy. This is to represent those many white people who stood against injustice and with their black friends against the mayor and city council. One of the most influential arrests made during the protests was of a white woman, Mary Peabody. One of the men who was instrumental in destroying the KKK in North Florida was a white liaison from the governor’s office. The judge who ordered the St. Augustine Four to be released was white. During this time, many white people did oppose racial discrimination and violence. They chose to risk their careers and their lives to do what was right. To say that we cannot teach the cruelty of some white people is to deny the beneficence of others. Some white people chose to beat and harass black protestors, others chose to stand with black protesters. There is always a choice. That is what we should teach kids.
Cutting out African American history is not truth-telling, it’s lying to our kids. It is not political to discuss slavery. Little Timmy is not going to be upset his ancestors did bad things, nor should he. But not teaching him what really happened only serves to cement in his mind that his ancestors could do no wrong. It assumes It is no different from what segregationists did 60 years ago, almost to the day of writing this. If we want our children and our children’s children to learn history, we must teach it honestly and compassionately. We must take the good with the bad, so as to make better decisions in the future. The phrase “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” might be tired and overused, but it still stands as a warning against the path we are on. Patriotic history does not mean history that is whitewashed of all misdeeds. True patriots recognize the wrongs of their country and strive to fix them. The founding fathers knew this, so when will the Government of Florida learn?