"Stop WOKE Act" Passes In Florida As Democrats Object, Noting "Possible Chilling Effect"

Miami FL

25 February, 2022

11:27 AM

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A Miami Times Staff Report Feb 24, 2022 The Republican controlled Florida House passed HB 7 today on a party line vote. The legislation is officially named Individual Freedom Act, but is dubbed the "Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees Act," or "Stop WOKE Act." Democratic members of the house objected to the bill and the possible chilling effect it will have on both businesses and schools. If it were to become law, classroom instruction or workplace training would be categorized as discrimination if it "compels" people to believe certain ideas. As an example, the bill targets training sessions that would lead people to think that they bear "responsibility for, or should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment because of, actions committed in the past by other members of the same race" or sex. The section of the bill dealing with schools would label instruction as discrimination if they were to make a student to "feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress because of actions, in which the person played no part" committed by people of the same race or sex. Before the passage of the bill however, Rep. Christopher Benjamin, a Miami Gardens Black Democrat, introduced an amendment that clarified educational instruction. The section added lists certain topics educators would be allowed to teach, including the topics of "how the individual freedoms of persons have been infringed by slavery, racial oppression" and segregation. The change also makes clear that teachers can offer lessons about "topics relating to the enactment and enforcement of laws resulting in racial oppression" and discrimination. "A lot of things have been said about what the bill doesn't allow. And I wanted to make sure that any chilling effect that this (bill) would have on the education of Black studies would be quelled. So, this section ensures that teachers understand the issues that are still on the table for which they can teach, as it relates to the racial issues here in Florida and these United States," Benjamin said. After news of the house's passage of the bill, the Human Rights Campaign offered their reaction in a press release. "This bill is a thinly veiled political attempt to attack marginalized communities. It doesn't address the critical needs of Floridians, but instead, fuels the discriminatory agenda of extremist legislators," said Cathryn M. Oakley, State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel at the Human Rights Campaign. "Let's be clear — the negative consequences of the "Stop WOKE Act'' will ripple across Florida. It will hurt the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, and women. Every historically marginalized population will be impacted by this legislation." During the debate, Representative Bryan Avila the bill's sponsor and a Republican from Miami Springs, defended his legislation, "This bill makes it clear that in Florida, people will be judged as individuals by their words, by their character, and by their actions — not by their race, by their sex or by their national origin." Rep. Colleen Burton, Republican from Lakeland, insisted the bill is to prevent "a certain ideology" from being injected into instruction for students or workers. "What this bill does is ensures for the future that it stays that way. And that it's very, very clear to educators across the state of Florida, whether they're educating in classrooms or whether they're doing training in businesses … that what we teach and what we talk about in those instances is fact," Burton said. Others see this as a way to inject more political restraints on classroom instruction. "Anyone can read a history book, learning the facts. But the utility of teachers, professors, presenters, scholars, is to help facilitate the conversation, the analysis, of what we are doing. Silencing people is never right. And what you're doing with this bill is silencing people's ability to talk about deep and meaningful issues," Rep. Kelly Skidmore, Democrat of Boca Raton, said. The Senate version of the bill, SB 148, currently has to pass the Rules Committee before it will be taken up for a floor vote. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.