Top Florida newspaper accuses Gov. DeSantis of ‘fear mongering’ Critical Race Theory bill

The South Florida Sun Sentinel published an editorial on Christmas day calling Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a “reactionary and authoritarian” liar.

The remarks come as DeSantis looks to pass a bill called the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (W.O.K.E.) Act.

“Remember the boogeyman, that specter your parents invoked to make you behave? Almost every culture has one. So do politicians when they want to create fear. Gov. Ron DeSantis has a boogeyman for the people of Florida,” the editorial reads.

8“It is a real thing known as critical race theory – a discipline taught at some colleges but not in Florida public schools. The governor wants nonetheless to ban it from schools and, for good measure, from the human resource policies and sensitivity training courses of privately owned businesses. That is not conservative; it is reactionary and authoritarian.” 

The Stop W.O.K.E. Act is meant, according to the governor, to “give businesses, employees, children and families tools to fight back against woke indoctrination.”

Governor DeSantis already banned Critical Race Theory and the New York Times’ 1619 project from the state’s schools. DeSantis wrote in the announcement of the bill, “We won’t allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country or hate each other.” 

The editorial holds that racism had a large influence on American history and is still an issue in today’s society, saying white voters demonize Critical Race Theory out of fear “of losing social and political dominance to changing demographics.”

In closing, the editorial states that “no one is teaching kids to hate our country or each other, but we do need to teach them not to hate each other, even unconsciously, and to recognize prejudices for what they are. That cannot be done by pretending they do not exist.”