Essay on Miseducation in Florida

–Sue Hargis Spigel

Each day in Florida brings new wonders. Which freedom will the governor and his legislature remove from individuals and local governments? What citizen initiatives will the County Commission ignore in favor of land developers and other coffer stuffers? What rebranding of history will the Florida Board of Education foist on us? 

The charming retelling of enslaved people learning useful skills for their future is the most reprehensible yet. What future? People had their lives and culture stolen violently as they endured hard labor, extreme deprivation, cruel overseers and likely death if they escaped and were caught. Don’t forget having children and spouses yanked away forever. But they learned skills for—no future.

For the clever rewriters who concocted this fable, consider this: Would you be so blithe if your ancestors were ripped from their homes and thrown into the bottom of a crowded ship? And if they survived the voyage, forced into cruel labor to profit landowners, with no realistic chance of improving their own lives and most likely losing their families forever? Would you consider this a fair trade for a few “skills” should they ever become free? I doubt it. In fact, many were enslaved because of their skills. What’s next in social studies, that Jim Crow laws provided great career opportunities for African Americans?