Editors note: It’s ironic that this past week we launched a four-part Podcast series on the first underground railroad which made its way to Florida from the late 1600’s to the early 1800’s. It appears our Governor doesn’t like such discussions.

Statist Authoritarian Governor Ron DeSantis’ latest crusade is to force history teachers to project a whitewashed, mythical view of American History. One which ironically likely minimizes Florida’s own role in this history.

DeSantis views on education have been circulating for a while and he outlined his views to neuter the teaching of history on Monday in a presentation that involved red-bating – an irony since it is the Governor himself that resembles an authoritarian dictator. Projection is nothing new among the alt-right (again I hesitate to call these people conservatives, because they aren’t.) as Donald Trump did it for four years in the White House.

Anyone can have an opinion on the much discussed “Critical Race Theory,” and “1619 Project.” Mine is actually quite nuanced as I do believe castigating everyone of our founding fathers as racist does irreparable harm to the American psyche and fails to recognize the enlightened views they held on some other matters. But on guys like John C. Calhoun among others, they must be taught as damaging racists who left institutions that still inhibit progress today.

At the same time the reality is this – American History has been not only whitewashed but in many ways it is incomplete, leaving out the importance of places like Florida, that were not initially settled by the British. And yes the narrative on race and religion (I’d argue much of America’s history is that of an anti-Catholic nation-state) is completely off-the-mark.

My view is that the version of American History that was taught in schools when I was a kid was a myth, a set of events taken out of context and manipulated to create the image of a nation-state and a people which is largely fraudulent. I addressed my views on this yesterday and don’t need rehash my long soliloquy piece with its rambling run-on sentences and angry attacks on all things “American.”

I’d love to hear our readers views on this.