Florida bill requires schools teach which political party backed slavery and discrimination

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Rep. Kiyan Michael, R-Jacksonville, and Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, introduced legislation on Wednesday that would revise Florida’s African American history requirements, detailing the “sociopolitical circumstances” of the civil war and civil rights eras.

The bill was named after Vice President Kamala Harris.

HB 1139, the Kamala Harris Truth in Slavery Teaching Act, includes required details about which political parties supported and opposed the practice of slavery, which ones enacted discriminatory policies following the end of slavery and the instrumental voices that fought for civil rights in the many years afterwards.

Ingoglia filed the companion bill, SB 1192.