Roberto Clemente Banned in Florida

[carlsonjok]

Originally Posted by G1911

It's not a slippery slope, the law is very explicit with the "any race" standard. It is not a slope, this is the entire point of the legislation, that the races are to be treated the same.

I will probably regret this, but there is an unstated assumption here that needs to be explored. That assumption is that we need to teach that all races are treated the same because they are treated the same in reality. While our system isn't nearly as unequitable as it was in the Jim Crow days, it is folly to think it is a perfect embodiment of the Lockean ideal that all men are created equal. As an example, much of the objection to voter ID laws is not any commitment to engaging in voter fraud, but rather the simple fact that racial minorities are significantly less likely to hold, or be able to acquire, the required type of ID. Any such law that requires voters to hold a specific type of identification without making it easier to acquire that type of ID is, if not de jure certainly de facto, discriminatory.

To bring this around to point, as Peter points out, the Florida law is written vaguely enough that there is no common understanding of what is allowed and what is not. And, when faced with such ambiguity, people will err on the side of caution because no one wants the grief of having their name in the papers as a "librul indoctrinator" because some gunny-ass parent with too much time on their hands got a burr under their saddle. So, what is an educator to do? Can they teach in current events that there are laws that disproportionately affect minorities? Can they teach about the discriminatory intent of poll taxes and Jim Crow Laws? Can they teach that many of our Founding Fathers owned slaves? Can they teach about the racism faced by Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente? No one knows. And when no one knows, anyone who decides to take a stand between an ambitious governor and riled up parents will stand alone.