skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

DeSantis Wages War Against Anti-Racism, Corporate 'Wokeness'

play audio
Play

Monday, April 25, 2022   

Gov. Ron DeSantis has been confronting a lot of issues dealing with race and inclusion. The latest is his signing into law his version of Florida's new Congressional district maps which heavily benefits Republicans and slashes the number of Black districts in half, from four to two.

DeSantis claims the districts were racially gerrymandered, but his proposed "race-neutral" map caused a sit-in protest by mostly Black lawmakers in the Florida House at the end of the redistricting special session.

Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, expressed her frustration.

"Ron DeSantis is disrespectful, Ron DeSantis is a bully, Ron DeSantis does not care about Black people," Nixon asserted. "I will not bite my tongue. There is an incessant attack on Black people in the state of Florida."

The League of Women Voters of Florida and a number of Democratic-aligned redistricting groups filed suit the same day the governor signed his maps into law. The League successfully challenged the state during the last redistricting process, and its president now vows to fight for "the votes and voices of hundreds of thousands of Black voters."

The DeSantis administration also stirred controversy when it announced a ban of 54 of 132 math textbooks it said included references to "critical race theory" and other "prohibited" topics, but offered no details.

Bacardi Jackson, interim legal director for the children's rights project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said she thinks ongoing pushback from the Black Lives Matter movement sparked conversations about the impact of systemic and structural racism.

"We seem to be in an era and a moment that said, 'White supremacy now, White supremacy always. We will resist every effort to make our society diverse,' " Jackson contended.

Jackson filed a public-records request for the administration to reveal its criteria for rejecting books. The Department of Education only lists four examples on its website and is unclear about specific concerns.

DeSantis has long pledged to take a stand against what he calls "state-sanctioned racism" and on Friday he signed into law what he calls the "Stop WOKE Act," which restricts how race is discussed in schools, colleges and workplaces.

DeSantis also signed a bill just days after it was introduced revoking the Walt Disney Company's special district status in the state.

Daniel Uhlfelder, a former Republican turned Democratic activist and candidate for Attorney General, called the move reckless.

"That seems to be a pattern with the leadership we have where they make these very quick, rash, impulsive decisions when someone or something does something that they don't agree with," Uhlfelder remarked. "That is a dangerous precedent. "

Tax experts and legislators said eliminating the district could have unintended consequences for county taxpayers, underscoring Uhlfelder's point the decision needed the careful analysis of experts, not a surprise issue for lawmakers in special session to address congressional redistricting.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021