Florida issues abound but some lawmakers worry about Confederate monuments, Pride flags | Opinion

Florida’s crusade against anything deemed “woke” should have died with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.

In the past two years, Florida passed some of the most extreme laws dealing with cultural issues. That didn’t help the governor in the GOP primary, but some Republican lawmakers don’t think it’s time to move on.

Thankfully, the 2024 legislative session has not been defined by the red meat issues that drew outrage from corners of conservative media and elevated DeSantis to presidential candidate. But bills moving in the Legislature show that Republicans are not completely done trying to silence the debate over important topics like racism and LGBTQ issues.

These measures don’t address the most pressing issues affecting Floridians, like sky-high homeowners’ insurance premiums. Apparently, though, they do make a few lawmakers feel like they are protecting Floridians from threats posed by teachers or Pride flags.

Republicans have reached deep into the well of cultural grievances this session, resuscitating the battle over Confederate monuments. Senate Bill 1122 would prohibit local governments from removing “historical monuments and memorials.”

The bill doesn’t directly mention Confederate monuments, but it seeks to stop the influence of “groups who may feel offended or hurt by certain actions in the history of the state or the nation.” That’s colorful coming from a Legislature that passed laws to protect white people offended by classroom discussions of racism. When it comes to Black people and others “offended” by statues honoring states who fought a Civil war to preserve slavery, the Legislature shows no interest in protecting their feelings.

The bill was filed around the same time the mayor of Jacksonville, after years of debate, ordered the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy from a park. Just four months before that, a gunman killed three Black people at a local Dollar General in Jacksonville because of their race, according to authorities. Yet the best some lawmakers could do to address that tragedy is fighting over statues. SB 1122 cleared a Senate committee Tuesday after a contentious debate that ended with Democratic senators walking out in protest before a vote was taken.

Republicans say they want to “protect and preserve” history but the bill would silence the debate over how to deal with the country’s complicated legacy. Local elected officials should decide what to do with monuments after hearing from constituents.

Likewise, it should be up to cities and counties whether to fly a Pride flag at City Hall, as Miami Beach routinely does during its world-renowned Pride festival.

SB 1120 and HB 901 would ban flags “that represent a political viewpoint, including, but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint” from government buildings.

Perhaps there’s a silver lining. The legislation would also prohibit flags supporting a partisan position. But its intent isn’t to prevent local officials from turning City Hall into MAGA headquarters. This smacks of the Legislature’s ongoing efforts to exclude the LGBTQ community from public spaces. Fortunately, it appears the bill is unlikely to move forward after a Senate committee failed to hear it.

And then there’s HB 1291, meant to eliminate “woke” from teacher preparation courses. The bill would ban courses that “distort significant historical events,” a sound idea that could be easily exploited in a state whose Black history curriculum says slaves benefited from skills they learned in bondage.

HB 1291 also bans teachers from being trained on concepts like “identity politics” but doesn’t define the term, leaving enough room for interpretation for state officials and activist groups. Also banned would be theories that say “systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States.”

The legislation is Part Two of DeSantis’ “Stop WOKE Act,” which limited race-based discussions in public schools, universities and private workplace training. Never mind that the courts have declared parts of the law unconstitutional with a federal judge calling it “positively dystopian.”

Expensive legal battles are almost certain with any culture-war laws that Florida may pass this legislative session. Woke wars have become stale and a continuing embarrassment for Florida. It’s time lawmakers let them finally die.

Editor’s note: This editorial has been updated to reflect legislative action on SB 1122 and SB 1120.

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This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 1:59 PM.