It’s a rare talent, for a politician’s actions to appear both chilling and silly at the same time. Gov. Ron DeSantis — who from the start has built his personal political brand by resurrecting and weaponizing bigotry that most people believed had been laid to rest —pulls it off regularly.
But he hit a new benchmark with a recent speech, which he wrapped up with a polemic featuring his favorite word, one he apparently assumes Floridians don’t know the meaning of.
The word, of course, is “woke.”
“The state of Florida is the state, is the place, where woke goes to die,” DeSantis said at the end of a rambling speech on education and teacher recruitment, delivered earlier this month in New Port Richey. “We are not going to let this state descend into some type of woke dumpster fire.”
We need to know, at this point, exactly what DeSantis means when he slings this word around. We think we do know — and it’s an ugly explanation, one that slanders Floridians as people of narrow minds, hard hearts and hateful intent.
Not who we are
And it is a slander; fundamentally untrue. Florida has always been one of the most diverse states in the union and for the most part, we live and let live in peace, if not perfect harmony. Why are so many people suddenly flocking to DeSantis’ flag of “anti-woke,” when it doesn’t reflect Florida’s reality?
Answering this question means starting with the real meaning of “woke.” Merriam-Webster gives us this definition, added in 2017: “Aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).”
That doesn’t sound bad to us, especially those of us who grew up in the South, born to parents — of all skin tones — who saw the vicious toll that bigotry exacted on society and started to question its righteousness and inevitability. These were the stalwart Americans with the moral courage to spark a great cultural change, one where it was no longer acceptable to reject fellow human beings on the mere basis of race — or gender, or language, or other things they could not control. Their understanding was not perfect and progress was slow and painful. But they were the first generation that strived to impress upon their children the horror and injustice of winnowing humans by attributes they could not control.
In minority families, that meant urging their children to stop submitting to countless indignities, to speak up when belittled, disadvantaged or physically threatened. In Caucasian households, parents began to correct their children when they expressed racist or — much later — homophobic views. As decades passed, the conversation evolved. Once the vast majority of Americans agreed that bigotry was wrong and destructive, the focus shifted to areas where unconscious bias and unthinking prejudice dwelled. We started talking about things like diversity in public life and equality of opportunity, of the value of considering other points of view. All too often, it boiled down to a simple directive: Treat other humans with courtesy, dignity and empathy. See the potential in every human. Investigate disparities, knock down barriers and seek redress.
That’s where the concept of “woke” emerged. It meant realizing that we all — no matter what our racial background — carried the seeds of prejudice and that bigotry wasn’t always easy to spot. It meant acknowledging how we all suffered from the great waste of human capital and potential that had been taking place while we slumbered to the reality of prejudice.
What, of that, does DeSantis think should go away?
The governor’s game
We don’t think DeSantis is calling for a return of the days of Jim Crow and segregation, or even the end of “press 2 for Español.” What we do believe, however, is that the governor wants people to consider this battle won. To stop striving to do better. For Floridians of European descent to stop feeling guilty when they inadvertently insult a Black colleague or overlook a manifestation of prejudice against non-heterosexual families. For minorities to stop complaining when they hit an invisible barrier.
He wants Floridians to stop trying to do better. To say “good enough,” when manifestly, we are not. Minorities still face worse health outcomes, lower lifetime earning potentials and higher incidents of incarceration and violence. Minorities and LGBTQ+ youth are still at far greater risk of bullying, addiction and suicide. Language barriers still deprive us of the full contribution from millions of Floridians who have come here in search of better lives.
The governor wants to rally those people — many of them unlikely voters who first thrilled to similar messages from Donald Trump — who believe a little racism is OK. That it’s fine to exclude some families from that word’s definition because it makes others uncomfortable.
That’s why DeSantis’ signature “Stop WOKE” legislation instructs schools to stop suggesting students should “feel guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” because of their race, color, sex or national origin. It’s why his “Don’t say gay” legislation was carefully marketed to resurrect the old tropes of LGBTQ+ people as predatory pedophiles.
A blinding selfishness
DeSantis is playing largely to a crowd of voters who are convinced that other people are just as lazy and shiftless as they are, but those people are reaping unfair advantages. To people who view any mention of sexuality as an affront. People who would appreciate the latitude to voice their retrograde views out loud, but fear the inevitable backlash.
Where would catering to that narrow-minded minority take us?
Backward.
Why would we want to go there?
We don’t. Most Floridians seem to appreciate the impulse toward inclusion and community. We have more friends and less fear. We acknowledge our slip-ups, make amends and move on. We don’t just get along. We explore each other’s cultures, talk about our experiences ― and thrive.
Gov. DeSantis wants us to believe our way of life is at risk. But for the most part, we’re talking about the ability of a small group of jerks to be, well, jerks. We’re talking about putting people we know, and get along with, in fear. We’re talking about hurting people we have already welcomed into our workplaces and schools and families.
It’s a calculation, one that paints DeSantis less as a racist or homophobe and more as a supremely selfish politician who cares more about his own future than Florida’s present reality. He’s weaponizing hate, not because he’s a hater, but because it’s good for his prospects.
In a way, that’s almost worse.
A federal judge has already shut down DeSantis’ Stop WOKE legislation for good and rational reasons ― foremost among them, that it is blatantly unconstitutional. While the courts do their job, let’s shut down the governor. Tell him Floridians are woke, proudly so. And not inclined to go back to sleep.
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The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick and El Sentinel Editor Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com
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