The largest historically Black fraternity in the U.S. announced Wednesday it would be moving its planned 2025 annual conference out of Orlando after the Florida Department of Education approved controversial new guidelines on African-American history, joining a number of other organizations protesting what the fraternity called Florida’s “harmful and discriminatory policies.”
Visitors take their time looking at all the items on display at "The House of Alpha", the Alpha Phi ... [+]
Alpha Phi Alpha, which describes itself as having “long stood at the forefront of the African American community’s fight for civil rights” said the decision was made due to what it called Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “harmful, racist, and insensitive policies against the Black community.”
The fraternity’s press release specifically mentioned the new K-12 curriculum, saying it “erases Florida’s role in slavery and oppression, blames the victims, and declares that African Americans who endured slavery benefited from the horrific and torturous institution.”
Last week, Florida approved new standards to align with legislation approved earlier this year by DeSantis barring lesson plans from suggesting people are privileged or oppressed based on their race or skin color.
The new standards say middle school students should learn “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit” and when students learn about massacres, the lesson must include “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans,” according to a document outlining the standards.
$4.6 million. That’s about how much Alpha Phi Alpha conventions generate in economic impact—and how much Florida will lose because of the group’s decision—according to the fraternity.
Numerous education policies were passed this year under DeSantis that led to pushback and boycotts from activists, ranging from a law preventing public colleges from funding diversity, equity and inclusion programs and limiting how race can be discussed in university classrooms to legislation barring “critical race theory” from schools. NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement that the latest education guidelines were “an attempt to bring our country back to a 19th century America where Black life was not valued,” adding his organization is “prepared to continue that fight by any means necessary.” Vice President Kamala Harris said the new guidelines pushed “propaganda” on children and ignored what slavery really was. Earlier this year, hundreds of students in Florida walked out of school in protest against DeSantis’ policies concerning higher education. But Florida’s controversial recent policy changes go beyond race. In May, the legislature passed legislation to expand the state’s so-called Don’t Say Gay law, which now prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity through eighth grade.
Some of the biggest names in the civil rights movement were in Alpha Phi Alpha, including Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall and Adam Clayton Powell. Other notable members include Paul Robeson, Andrew Young, Duke Ellington and Cornel West.