Connect with us

Opinion

Betsy DeVos Continues Her Path of Racism and Bigotry

Published

on

DeVos

Another person who bought a cabinet position continues her path of racism and bigotry. For decades Betsy DeVos and her husband donated tens of millions of dollars to Republican politicians. Her reward was an appointment to Trump’s incompetent and unqualified cabinet in 2017 as Secretary of Education. Her prejudices became public knowledge immediately. DeVos opposes funding for public education and supports Christian schools and the brainwashing which accompanies private education.

Her efforts to eliminate inner-city schools and force minority children into mostly white schools in the suburbs failed. Once again, in the private sector, her money is going to other politicians who are continuing efforts to prevent educating younger Americans about our nation’s history, both good and bad.

DeVos is verbally and monetarily supporting Florida’s extremist and fascist Governor, Ron DeSantis, who is attempting to deny the existence of the LGBTQ community. He would also like to eliminate the history of slavery and the horrors of the Holocaust. Just short of burning books, DeSantis supports the removal of books from our libraries that refer to these issues and the darker facts about our nation’s history. In Florida, teachers will be suspended or fired if they mention anything about our nation’s dark history.

In an interview with The Gathering, Mother Jones reports that when DeVos was asked about taxpayer vouchers and Christian schools, she said:

Our desire is to confront the culture in ways that will continue to advance God’s kingdom.

As of today, DeVos has contributed more than $280,000 to DeSantis SuperPAC

It’s no secret that most right-wing politicians, 22.3 millionaires and 788 billionaires, support the end of public education. They would force all of our children to attend charter or private schools.

Joining the concerns of every red-state governor, DeSantis continues to express his fear that our nation’s children will learn about the truth, that our country’s greatest sin was slavery, and that a large percentage of the American people support white supremacy in 2022.

DeVos

Courtesy of Javier Robles (Pixabay CC0)

The term is CRT, “Critical Race Theory,” I believe that this should be a mandatory part of our school’s curriculum. It is a fact, not fiction, and refuses to “sugarcoat” the severity of slavery in America since 1619. However, the party of racism, homophobia, and sexism is afraid of people like me who promise that “the truth lives here.” DeSantis is the worst governor in America, and his fascist agenda must be exposed.

“Our legislation will defend any money for K-12 going to CRT consultants,” the governor said at a press conference in Dec. 2021. “No taxpayer dollars should be used to teach our kids to hate our country or hate each other.”

What the “Florida Freak” is actually saying is that he and his party will continue their support for white supremacy, homophobia, and a growing level of hatred for all Americans who are not white or Christian.

If our children learn the truth, racism will no longer exist in America. This is the greatest fear of old white men who were raised in an atmosphere of white privilege and continue their fight to retain that privilege.

I am a poster boy for childhood ignorance. In 1962, at the age of 16, I learned about white privilege and the two Americas. If I had been forced to remain in private school, I might be a racist today.

God, I hope not.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources:

Daily Kos: DeSantis is raking in the DeVos family fortune in large part thanks to his anti-CRT legislation; by Rebekah Sager
The Guardian: Betsy DeVos: the billionaire Republican destroying public education; by David Smith

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Javier Robles’ Pixabay Page – Creative Commons License

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply