Thank you, to Illinois Governor Pritzker. Full disclosure: as a Georgetown undergraduate, I once briefly worked, between. Senators, 1976-77, as a mediocre busperson at Jonah's Oyster Kitchen in the Hyat Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Hyatt heir Pritzker gave a great speech August 20, 2024 at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. From USA Today Network:
Illinois Gov. Pritzker throws shade at DeSantis during DNC speech
C. A. BridgesIllinois Gov. JB Pritzker took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Tuesday with fiery words for former president Donald Trump, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could be excused if he thought some of the attack was aimed his way.
Along with accusations of Trump's failed plans and preference for cruelty, the governor, who called himself "an actual billionaire," tossed in some specifics that Floridians might recognize.
"Here's the thing," Pritzker said. "Americans don't want to be forced to drive 100 miles to deliver a baby because a draconian abortion law shut down the maternity ward."
DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban while the former 15-week ban was still being challenged in court.
DeSantis signed 'Don't Say Gay' bill
"Americans with LGBTQ kids don't want them facing discrimination at school because the state sanctioned it," Pritzker said.
After DeSantis' Parental Rights in Education law — nicknamed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by critics — passed, discussion of gender and LGBTQ+ were banned in classrooms and school districts began ordering the removal of rainbow stickers and "safe space" signs, LGBTQ+ students reported feeling more afraid of bullying and ostracization (sic) in class.
DeSantis signed bill to allow concealed carry without background checks
"Americans want to go to their neighborhood grocery store and not have to worry about some random guy open carrying an AR 15," Pritzker said.
Open carry is still banned in Florida. But under DeSantis, Florida began allowing people to carry concealed weapons and firearms without background checks, training or a concealed license in 2023.
New Florida curriculum suggests enslaved people learned valuable skills
"Americans don't want their kids to be taught in history class that slavery was a jobs program," Pritzker said.
A requirement that social studies and history teachers include "how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit" went nationally viral after the Florida Board of Education signed off on a new, highly criticized K-12 curriculum for social studies to bring African American history taught in the state in line with the new "Stop WOKE Act."
The act prohibits any teaching that could make students feel bad about actions committed in the past by members of their own race and blocks instruction that suggests anyone was "either privileged or oppressed" based on race or skin color, it caused a firestorm with what it said and what it did not.
Critics said the new curriculum whitewashed American and Florida history, suggested that victims of Black massacres were partially complicit, and removed Black history past Reconstruction aside from naming some prominent African Americans, among other things.
The state and DeSantis defended the curriculum, saying that slaves developing "highly specialized trades from which they benefitted" was well-documented and included a list of 16 such enslaved people who became blacksmiths, fishers, shoemakers, tailors, teachers and shipping industry workers.
Historians pointed out that nearly half of those examples were never actually enslaved and many of the rest gained the skills for their later professions after gaining their freedom.
DeSantis vs. DEI
"And if Americans are black or brown, they want to get promoted at work without being derided as a DEI hire For the sin of being successful while not white," Pritzker said.
DeSantis has not called Vice President Kamala Harris a DEI hire. But other Republicans have, and DeSantis has made removing DEI programs a key part of his legacy and his aborted presidential campaign.
In 2023, DeSantis signed legislation to ban state or federal funding for any state university programs that “advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism.”
"Florida's getting out of that game," he said. "You want to do things like gender ideology? Go to Berkeley. Go to some of those other places."
Universities and colleges across the state dropped their programs and eliminated staff positions in response, although some have pushed back. Students and staff have protested, with many critics saying the push to the right was hurting higher education in Florida and causing a brain drain as graduate students chose to attend school elsewhere.
The "Stop WOKE Act" also banned diversity practices and training that could make employees feel "personal responsibility" for actions committed in the past by someone of the "same race, color, sex or national origin" and in May, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the state would investigate Starbucks for its diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
After the liberal arts college New College of Florida in Sarasota underwent a hostile takeover with an eye toward turning it into a conservation higher education experiment, the new board members appointed by DeSantis abolished the school’s DEI office.
The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which purports to be a conservative roadmap for a second Donald Trump presidency, praises Florida and DeSantis for his fight to empower parents and ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the workplace and across education. The project's plans for education mirror many of DeSantis' initiatives in the state.
"Let's be clear," Pritzker said, "it's not woke that limits economic growth. It's weird. And these guys aren't just weird, they're dangerous."
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