In my recent article, I wrote about Putin rewriting history. Putin’s dream is not only to return to the good old days of Stalin and the Soviet Union but also to the reign of Peter the Great. He learned from Stalin how to redo the historical narrative. The photo on the left is of Stalin and three of his functionaries.

A stroll along the Moscow Canal

The photo on the right is edited. Nikolai Yezhov purged thousands of Soviet officials at the bequest of Stalin. However, Yezhov fell from Stalin’s favor in the late 30s. Yezhov was here one day and gone from history the next.

Nearly a century later, Gov. Ron DeSantis is also rewriting history. In 2021, DeSantis wanted to ban Critical Race Theory (CRT) from Florida’s public schools. DeSantis developed a new piece of legislation with a catchy title, Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act. He wanted to protect children from woke indoctrination. DeSantis didn’t want children to “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin.”

DeSantis’ concern was not wanting students to feel ill-at-ease reading about racism. That statement is blatantly racist. There is a duality regarding that racist mindset. He is trying to remove the racist history of America since 1619.

George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If one doesn’t know the past, say our country’s racist past, we can’t remember the past correctly and will continue to be a racist nation.

Additionally, 53% of Floridians are white, meaning that 47% are non-white, mostly Hispanics and blacks. Almost half the state’s population isn’t feeling discomfort reading about discrimination. They experience it firsthand on a daily.

DeSantis is editing history as a white racist.

DeSantis wants to edit issues like the British bringing slaves from Africa in 1619. The English did bring slaves to America in 1619, but other European countries predate the English by bringing slaves to North America in the 1500s.

DeSantis doesn’t know that Jefferson’s first draft of the Declaration of Independence had an anti-slavery passage. Why the final draft deleted it, slavery has been a part of our country.

A century later, having not resolved slavery, America became involved in the Civil War. Most historians estimate that 750,000 American soldiers died during that war. After that carnage, America spent another century with Jim Crow laws and massive discrimination and killing of blacks, especially in the South. Even after the civil rights movement of the 50s-60s, we still haven’t addressed racism in America.

DeSantis wants to delete or edit our history as it relates to blacks.

“I’ll delete this and edit the rest.”

I haven’t even discussed DeSantis’ mindset regarding the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which outlaws transgender girls from playing sports in middle school through college. Finally, DeSantis backed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, also called the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

We need to change our Weltanschauung. Whites need to address racism in America, whether individually or institutionally. The alternative is more racial bigots and white supremacists. The reason for racism and white supremacy is based on fear of the inadequacy of whites.