Shevrin Jones says protests against Ron DeSantis represent ‘intersectionality’

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'We've seen this before. We've seen these moments before in history.'

A state Senator from Florida is taking his argument against Ron DeSantis‘ war with the College Board to the national stage.

Shevrin Jones told MSNBC viewers Saturday morning that the battle against the Governor’s rejected African American Studies Advanced Placement course proposal illustrates true “intersectionality,” a logical response to what he and other Democrats see as DeSantis’ latest attempt to whitewash inconvenient history for political ends.

“For those who did not know the definition of intersectionality, it was defined for them on Wednesday at the march. People from all over the state of Florida joined in unity and solidarity,” Jones said. “To make it clear that if you come for one of us, you come for all of us, from students and parents, black, white, gay, straight, transgender, and all types of religions, they all were there on Wednesday.”

“And it’s also a resistance to what we’re seeing happening across this country, because people realized that if it’s happening in Florida, Texas is next, Arizona’s next Tennessee is next,” Jones said, saying the message “has to be amplified.”

The comments were made in the context of Wednesday’s demonstrations in Tallahassee, which saw Rev. Al Sharpton, elected Black Democrats, and activists issuing the strongest response yet to DeSantis’ moves.

In response to continued questions from host Katie Phang, Jones continued to contend that the Governor’s war with the College Board is a stand-in for a much broader cultural assault.

“I think we should not be confused in this moment and what we’re seeing right now. We’ve seen this before. We’ve seen these moments before in history with banning books and the muzzling of teachers of what you can and what you cannot say. And it’s unfortunate that the college board is now the latest boogeyman for Gov. DeSantis. And unfortunately, this is what the Governor does to people who don’t agree with him and his dangerous rhetoric and his policies.

“He’s coming after you and he’s willing to sink the entire ship all for the sake of getting his way,” Jones added.

“I think that we should be playing close attention to what the policies and the rhetoric that the Governor is doing. Because if he can go after Disney world, what makes you think that he won’t come after the college board or what makes you think he won’t come after the colleges, the universities.”

Jones cited the “full takeover” of New College as a leading example of that trend.

“The Governor really wants to use education to get into the minds of students, to get into the minds of of teachers and to really put this fearmongering across the state and across the country.”

For his part, DeSantis is pushing for “alternatives” to the Advanced Placement courses amid his own blasts of intersectional tropes in the College Board course

“The College Board was the one that in a Black Studies course put queer theory in. Not us! They did that. They were the ones who put in Intersectionality. They put in other types of neo-Marxism into the proposed syllabus,” DeSantis contended.

He cited International Baccalaureate and Cambridge International courses as “more rigorous” than AP classes, and noted that dual enrollment classes are available. Despite those attempts to reassure restive parents and students, many questions remain as to how the Governor and the Legislature would compel such a culture shift.

 

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. His work also can be seen in the Washington Post, the New York Post, the Washington Times, and National Review, among other publications. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


3 comments

  • M. Mouse

    February 19, 2023 at 1:28 pm

    Nothing is more anti-education than banning course content, there is no freedom for parents or students when taking away the right to take an AP course, and while this may play well in Florida and other anti-intellectual regions of the country, it won’t work with the majority of Americans. So have your fun in the spotlight, Ron Boy, while it lasts.
    And Ron Boy, I’m not trying to educate you, I know you wouldn’t let that happen, but you might try looking up “little man syndrome.” I realize you are not physically little, but there is your mind to consider.

  • Mac Wiseman

    February 20, 2023 at 7:12 am

    Leftist heads once again totally exploding over this. The leftist plan, knowing their ship is going down, was to make queers out of America’s precious childern in as large numbers as possable. Because Blacks, Hispanics, and White suburban housewives have all abandoned the left in mass. The plan again was to turn all your kids queer because 99% of the queer population still (unbelievably) vote Democrat. Sure it would take a few years for your little queers to reach voting age. But that is all the left had.
    Furthermore the left determined (wrongly) that nobody could push back due to fears of being doxed, cancelled, ect…ect…ect.
    Well the left got it all wrong and their ship is going down even faster. By By loosers.

  • Mac Wiseman

    February 21, 2023 at 11:28 pm

    And President DeSantis will finally ship THOSE people back to Africa where they belong!

Comments are closed.


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