this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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Board of education replaces course at 12 public universities with own US history curriculum, in latest ‘anti-woke’ attack

Educators are warning that college enrollment in Florida will plummet after the state removed sociology as a core class from campuses in the latest round of Ron DeSantis’s war on “woke ideology”.

The Republican governor’s hand-picked board of education voted on Wednesday to replace the established course on the principles of sociology at its 12 public universities with its own US history curriculum, incorporating an “historically accurate account of America’s founding [and] the horrors of slavery”.

The board faced a backlash last summer for requiring public schools to teach that forced labor was beneficial to enslaved Black people because it taught them useful skills.

The removal as a required core course of sociology classes, which Florida education commissioner and staunch DeSantis acolyte Manny Díaz insisted without evidence had “been hijacked by leftwing activists”, follows several other recent “anti-woke” moves in education in Florida.

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[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 168 points 9 months ago (14 children)

Although the general education classes like psychology and sociology are annoying, they're all essential knowledge for being an educated human being. It's a shame Florida wants their population to be ignorant conservatives.

[–] spider@lemmy.nz 83 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)
[–] Evkob@lemmy.ca 66 points 9 months ago (3 children)

When was conservatism not ignorant? Certainly not in my lifetime. It's been an ideology of anti-intellectualism for at least three decades now.

[–] spider@lemmy.nz 43 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (5 children)

True, but now it's off the rails.

Edit:

Margaret Goldwater advocated for birth control and reproductive rights in the United States during the twentieth century. Goldwater was a socialite and philanthropist and was married to Barry Goldwater, US Senator from Arizona. She spent much of her life working to further the women's reproductive rights movement, which sought to expand women's legal, social, and physical access to reproductive healthcare, including contraception and abortions.

source

Barry Goldwater was considered the father of the modern conservative movement; his wife's work would likely result in his excommunication from today's Republican Party.

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[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 14 points 9 months ago

It’s been an ideology of anti-intellectualism for at least three decades now.

30 years is maybe pushi... Oh wait, that's only 1994. Yeah, you're right.

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[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 30 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (11 children)

classes like psychology and sociology are annoying

It’s a bummer that you had that experience. Mine were absolutely fascinating. That said, my school had some flagship social science departments, so the people that instructed there were not the b-team.

If a university doesn’t have a good program in a particular discipline, good people don’t want to work there, and the current staff often don’t have the expertise to hire for it.

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[–] kromem@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago

It's a shame Florida wants their population to be ignorant conservatives.

Look at the entrance polls for the Republican primaries.

There's a 30 point spread between Trump's support depending if the person went to college or not.

How much is correlation vs cause and effect is debatable, but certainly in a democracy an educated public can't hurt.

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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 85 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You know the one thing I will say out of all this, is that if Republicans find sociology so threatening, it as a field must be doing something right.

[–] Neon_Shadow@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

I left college ages ago, but my sociology course is the one I remember most. I took it as a throwaway elective, but it ended up being my most loved course. The things we learned are applicable to everyday life, and articles like this show how even to this day, it's still paying dividends.

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[–] raynethackery@lemmy.world 78 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Could this result in accreditation being pulled, which could make federal student financial assistance unavailable?

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 35 points 9 months ago

If it doesn't, it should.

[–] needthosepylons@lemmy.world 67 points 9 months ago (9 children)

Well, as a sociology teacher working with psychologists in my current research I get why they decide this.

Politicians like them can't rule over people even slighty aware of how political discourse and mass manipulation operate.

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[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 59 points 9 months ago (7 children)

Nobody is going to respect any kind of degree from these universities.

Why would you pay to go to school where your credentials will mean Jack shit to anyone?

What a joke.

[–] BeautifulMind@lemmy.world 33 points 9 months ago (1 children)

One wonders what will happen to these schools' accreditations, really.

I mean, if you're teaching something you call history and you don't teach students how to put the course content in its historical context and interrogate those sources critically, you're not teaching them history, you're indoctrinating them.

...tho to be fair, that's honestly what passes for US History in most US schools. The more history I learn, the more I realize most of us aren't taught

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[–] butterflyattack@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago

I mean, people paid to attend trump 'university'. There are always plenty of fools who will buy stupid shit. I kind of feel sorry for the students though. Most people are pretty young at university age and many are still forming their perspectives. Getting away from home and meeting new people is an important part of this. Plenty of people from conservative families go away to uni and start to see that they've been brought up on bullshit. This is an attempt to stop that from happening - the 'anti-woke' shit will attract more conservative students which will reduce the chance that any of them will encounter different views and cultures so they stay in their ignorance bubble. Don't want little Johnny or Jane coming home from school an anarchist! It's sad for the students though who will come away in massive debt with a useless degree and have less opportunity for healthy change.

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[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 58 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Can we stop pretending we’re shocked? Please? Not in a resigned way, not like we’re just gonna let this new garbage happen. But let’s stop pretending Florida and Texas are normal. Like, at all.

And by “us” of course I’m referring to the corporate news media. Seriously, stop building up fascism. Kthx.

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[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 56 points 9 months ago (5 children)

So in 10 years I’m gonna start asking job applicants where they went to high school… and I won’t hire Floridians, because I know they are uneducated.

[–] JustZ@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 19 points 9 months ago

I cannot think of a reason 😅 sorry Florida, your spawn isn’t qualified.

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[–] Yerbouti@lemmy.ml 55 points 9 months ago (22 children)

US's biggest problem IMO is undereducation. Lots of people seems to lack basic intellectual auto-defense skill. It's been a problem for a long time, but given how easy AI makes it to create disinformation, the shit will eventually hit the fan and even the GOP will be beging for a minimal education cursus to fix the mess they created.

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[–] blargerer@kbin.social 52 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Do.. do they understand that sociology is at best tangentially connected to socialism?

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 34 points 9 months ago

Probably not.

[–] henfredemars@infosec.pub 22 points 9 months ago

The word sounds vaguely scary and that is sufficient.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 17 points 9 months ago

That would require knowing what sociology is

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 51 points 9 months ago

Every Florida college ought to immediately lose its accreditation because of this.

[–] rusticus@lemm.ee 51 points 9 months ago (3 children)

“the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.”

For those wondering, this is the definition of “woke” by Rhonda Sandtits lead counsel.

Being “anti-woke” is a dog whistle for racism, sexism, xenophobia and bigotry.

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[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 49 points 9 months ago (2 children)

It's interesting how conservatives are using the power of the state to mold the population to their liking.

[–] jkrtn@lemmy.ml 35 points 9 months ago (7 children)

Surely Repubs wouldn't tell lies that they want "small government" while simultaneously legislating what we can learn, who we can love, and what women are allowed to do with their bodies?

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[–] fsr1967@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

It's ~~interesting~~ terrifying how conservatives are using the power of the state to mold the population to their liking.

FTFY

[–] MugsysRapSheet@mastodon.social 44 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

@MicroWave
Remember when #Republicans were all about "the less government in your life, the better"?

They used to say things like "the government that governs least, governs best" and "You can't legislate morality."

Now they want to decide what books you can read & which bathroom you can use.

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[–] GiddyGap@lemm.ee 35 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Florida seriously losing its luster these days. Used to visit the state for vacations. Can't imagine spending a dime there anymore.

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[–] ME5SENGER_24@lemmy.world 35 points 9 months ago (3 children)

DeSantis has to be a marketing major. The dude is the ultimate panderer. He understands the people of his state and shifts every movement towards their appeasement. All except the state’s populace. He understands the county count for votes and says to himself fuck the cities and the people in favor of the rednecks and MAGA-otts.

Anti-communism warnings to the Cubans and Venezuelans and you win the south. Pro-KKK and you win the north. Some Werther’s caramels and you win the center.

Before you think it, I don’t think he’s a good person. I think he’s an absolute shithead. I just applaud the stupidity of where my parents live.

(Fun fact, I had sane parents….until they moved to Florida, now we barely on speaking terms)

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[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 30 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Every school in Florida losing their accreditation over this would be a dream come true! Come on Ronny boy, sink that ship!

[–] braxy29@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago

makes me feel bad for kids who can't afford out of state tuition, tho

[–] Travler@mastodon.social 29 points 9 months ago (1 children)

@MicroWave As someone with a Masters Degree in Sociology I can tell you this is only part of the NAZI's intent to make us into a full blown Hitler Regime with a hint of Putinism.

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[–] badbytes@lemmy.world 26 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This is dystopian, that states prohibited academic fields. Next woman won't be allowed in school. Florida is the new Afghanistan.

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 15 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Sharia law, American style.

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[–] InternetUser2012@midwest.social 23 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I really, really wanted to move to Florida. It was my dream. I finally adulted, quit drinking, quit smoking, got my shit together. Now, I'm in a position where I could move but there's no way in hell I'd even go back there on vacation now. They've ruined the state, ruined my dream.

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[–] UnaSolaEstrellaLibre@lemmy.world 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The party of small government.

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[–] FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Gonna be real fun when pilots from FL decide they’re gonna let Jesus take the wheel. Maybe better than MCAS 🤷‍♂️

What the fuck Florida?

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

He doesn't care. He really doesn't care.

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