Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis does not believe in diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
He has campaigned against them as being part of a woke, or progressive, effort to focus on ideology over merit.
He signed a bill making it illegal to have DEI programs in Florida's colleges. He has framed his objection to inclusivity efforts as a battle against forces trying to change what he sees (and wants potential voters to see) as the American way of life.
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"These concepts are in no way inclusive and instead force exclusion and division within higher education, and do not in any way contribute to learning or knowledge," the governor's office said in a news release before a roundtable event DeSantis hosted.
The Republican candidate for president has also been outspoken on the topic, which he often refers to as the "DEI scam."
“In Florida, we are not going to back down to the woke mob, and we will expose the scams they are trying to push onto students across the country,” said DeSantis in a news release. “Florida students will receive an education, not a political indoctrination.”
DeSantis has also opposed the use of diversity-equity-inclusion in business settings, but he and the legislature have not made it illegal for Florida businesses.
But his handpicked board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which replaced the Reedy Creek Improvement District in governing the land on which Walt Disney's (DIS) -) Disney World theme park sits, has passed a ban on DEI programs.
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Currently, there are dueling lawsuits in court regarding the dissolution of Reedy Creek. While those play out, the governor's Tourism District has oversight for the area. Essentially, it does all the things a government does, like set tax rates and manage services like police and fire.
The board's latest move was to abolish all diversity and inclusion programs.
District Administrator Glenton Gilzean called diversity-equity-inclusion initiatives "illegal” and “un-American,” Blog Mickey reported.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District trumpeted the changes that flip the script from describing DEI efforts as increasing diversity and inclusion to one that implies, but never explicitly states, that the practice discriminates against white people.
Today, District Administrator, Glenton Gilzean announced the abolition of all DEI programs at the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The announcement comes after the Reedy Creek Improvement District implemented hiring and contracting programs that discriminated against Americans based on gender and race, costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
The announcement comes after an internal investigation into the district’s policies. The district’s DEI committee will be dissolved and any DEI job duties will be eliminated. CFTOD staff will also no longer be permitted to use any staff time to pursue DEI initiatives.
Gilzean, who like the rest of the board has publicly backed DeSantis, also made a statement.
"Our district will no longer participate in any attempt to divide us by race or advance the notion that we are not created equal. As the former head of the Central Florida Urban League, a civil rights organization, I can say definitively that our community thrives only when we work together despite our differences,” he said.
The new board charged that the Reedy Creek Improvement District regularly paid higher prices to vendors and contractors in order to meet its diversity goals.
"Under its Minority/Women Business Enterprise and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programs, the Reedy Creek Improvement District routinely awarded contracts based on racially and gender-driven goals to businesses on the basis of their owners’ race and gender," the new board charged.
That, it alleges, forced the district to pay higher prices to find companies that met its diversity goals.
