Joe Biden's presidential inauguration ceremony in January 2021 was one of the saddest in the history of this significant event. Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, making it impossible to hold the usual large-scale celebration at Capitol Hill. Secondly, just two weeks prior, on January 6, American democracy was on the brink as the illustrious city of Washington, D.C. appeared like a city under military siege.
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Despite these challenges, the organizers of the inauguration tried to find ways to make it slightly less gloomy, even though it was extremely difficult to foster optimism. They gambled on an unknown young Black woman named Amanda Gorman, who, at the age of 23, became the youngest poet in the history of presidential inaugurations.
Gorman recited a poem she composed titled "The Hill We Climb," a patriotic work that touched upon America's ongoing struggle to uphold the ideals it has set for itself and how, despite everything, it always manages to move forward. It became the most viral moment of Biden's inauguration, propelling Gorman to overnight stardom.
Over two years later, just two weeks ago, Gorman's phone started crashing due to a bombardment of messages. An elementary school in Miami, Florida, decided to remove the booklet containing "The Hill We Climb" because they deemed the poem unsuitable for students before middle school. This decision came as a result of a complaint filed by Daily Salinas, a mother of two students at the school, who claimed that the poem was "not educational and has indirect hate messages".
A few days later, it became apparent that Salinas had other interesting opinions. On her Facebook page, she shared, among other things, a post with a list of the "Zionist Jews' steps towards global domination," including "transitioning to socialism, then to communism, and finally to tyranny." Salinas quickly issued an apology, stating, "I love the Jewish community." She apologized much less for her antagonism to Gorman's poem and, in the end, claimed that she didn't even read it. "I'm not an expert," she said, "I'm not a reader. I'm a mother involved in her children's education".
It is indeed strange and regressive that a single parent can have the power to initiate the removal of a poem from the curriculum. However, in present-day Florida, it is sufficient for a single parent to lodge a complaint for a book to be immediately suspended until a special committee decides whether to accept the complaint. In the past year, hundreds of complaints have been filed in Florida against books found in the curriculum or public school libraries. Almost always, these complaints target books written by non-White and LGBTQ+ authors that address issues of race, gender, and sexual orientation. Almost always, the complaints are accepted.
All of this is just a small part of the very sharp turn that one of the largest states in the United States is taking towards extreme conservatism with touches of totalitarian rule. The state that was once considered so free, attracting the most eccentric individuals in America—and many wealthy retired Jews—is now a place where schools are prohibited from even uttering the word "gay."
Last week, the leading African-American organization in the United States, the NAACP, issued a travel advisory for the state of Florida. The organization stated in a strongly worded message, "Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color."
With this statement, the NAACP joined several LGBTQ+ equality organizations that issued a similar travel warning last month and canceled numerous events planned for Pride Month in Florida.
"Under the leadership of Governor Ron Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. We're not backing down, and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation," the warning said.
DeSantis responded joyfully to the NAACP's message. It's exactly what he wanted. He ran for office on a platform of waging a culture war against what conservatives in America call "Woke," which is essentially a fight against freedom of expression and the rights of Black people, LGBTQ+ individuals, women, and even corporations like Disney that come to the defense of these minorities. In the past two years, DeSantis has signed laws that are so extreme that they make Donald Trump look like a moderate candidate in the Republican primaries. While Trump took off with the slogan "Make America Great Again," DeSantis sells hats and shirts that say "Make America Florida."
In addition, there is a sharp rise in the number of far-right organizations in Florida. A report by the Anti-Defamation League described 400 cases of white supremacist literature distributed in Florida in the past two years and warned of a "disturbing level of coordination among white supremacist groups in Florida."
Last week, a heated meeting took place at a school in North Tempa, Florida, attended by parents and teachers. In this school, a teacher named Jenna Barbie showed "A Strange World," a Disney animated film featuring a gay character, to her fifth-grade students. She was suspended from her position, and the Florida Department of Education is investigating whether she violated the "Don't Say Gay" law. As one can imagine, the incident made national headlines and led to significant tension at the school, where dozens of teachers have resigned or plan to resign.
“I have never seen such fear from my colleagues as I have seen in the last two months,” social studies teacher Victoria Hunt told the board. Another teacher, Daniel Scott, stated that the current atmosphere is driving him away from the profession: "I don't feel like I can provide a safe environment for my students." Meanwhile, Elisa Miranda, a former math teacher who has already resigned, told several vocal conservative activists during the meeting, "No one is teaching your children to be gay. Sometimes they just are. I need to teach math. I simply don't have time to teach your child to be gay."
Thus, Florida provides a frightening glimpse into the American dream for the Republican presidential Ron DeSantis contender, causing Trump to appear moderate.