DeSantis Introduces "Stop WOKE" Act, Says CRT Is "Elite-Driven Phenomenon"
(Steve Watson) Florida Governor Ron DeSantis introduced legislation Wednesday in an effort to crack down on the teaching of Critical Race Theory and other ‘woke’ ideology in schools and places of employment, urging that his state will not tolerate the “elite-driven phenomenon.” of “cultural Marxism”.
As he spoke about the bill, called the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act (Stop W.O.K.E Act), DeSantis noted “We want all our students to understand why was our country founded. What were some of the key ideas that made us different,” adding that core rights “do not come from government.”
The governor continued, “I think what you see now with the rise of this woke ideology is an attempt to really delegitimize our history and delegitimize our institutions.”
“And I view the wokeness as cultural Marxism,” DeSantis added to rapturous applause.
DeSantis emphasised that proponents of CRT “want to tear at the fabric of our society and our culture, really things we’ve taken for granted, like the ability of parents to direct the upbringing of their kids,” displacing it with a “militant form of leftism”.
The legislation will provide parents a private right of action to enforce prohibition of the teaching of CRT and to recover attorney’s fees if they are successful.
Labelling CRT as “state-sanctioned racism,” and “indoctrination,” the governor proclaimed “No taxpayer dollars should be used to teach our kids to hate our country,” adding “We also have a responsibility to ensure that parents have the means to vindicate their rights when it comes to enforcing state standards.”
“How is it not a hostile work environment to be attacking people based on their race or telling them that they’re privileged or part of oppressive systems when all they’re doing is showing up to work and trying to earn a living?” DeSantis asked, adding “We believe that that violates the Florida Civil Rights laws, but to the extent that it doesn’t, we’re going to make sure that the law does include this.”
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