Clergyman uses movie that led to KKK surge to warn against DeSantis policies

Critics of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claim that the "atmosphere" he's created in the state is hostile to Black people, The Miami Herald reported.

The Herald cites several DeSantis bills: the anti-protest bill that came after the sometimes violent Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020; the "redrawn congressional maps he proposed eliminated two Black-led districts;" the Stop WOKE Act that "banned instruction that could make students feel uncomfortable about a historical event due to their race;" and his hand-picked Department of Education that updated Black history education standards, which was accused of claiming slaves "benefitted" from slavery, although that interpretation was hotly debated.

Speaking to The Herald, Bishop William J. Barber II gave the example of the racist 1915 film Birth of a Nation and how it led to the resurgence of the KKK, saying that the "power of a tongue on a public mic creates an ethos and atmosphere that allows [anti-Black violence] to be OK."

DeSantis was even accused of influencing the racist shooting rampage by Christopher Palmeter that left three Black people dead.

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“We have repeatedly told him what his rhetoric was going to do and that’s exactly what transpired,” Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon said in an interview, adding, “They are doing everything to erase Black history. They are feeding our children propaganda. All that does is lead to the devaluation of Black lives.”

“There were literally three Black people who were killed because this guy is pushing agendas and rhetoric that’s devaluing Black lives,” Nixon later told the Miami Herald.

Read the full article over at The Miami Herald.