The National Black Justice Coalition Celebrates “Stop WOKE Act” Being Blocked by a Federal Judge
CONTACT: Brett Abrams | brett@unbendablemedia.com
Floridians Can Still #SayBlack
FLORIDA — Yesterday, Florida’s “Stop WOKE” Act, which attempted to restrict workplace diversity training and the teaching of truth as it relates to white supremacist and anti-Black sentiment, behaviors, and teachings, was blocked by a federal judge. Chief Judge Mark Walker ruled the law violates the First Amendment and cannot be enforced.
In the six weeks that Florida’s ignorant “Stop WOKE ACT” has been the law, teachers, students, employers, and workers across the state have had to censor themselves and others when it comes to critically important conversations about race and racism, systemic inequities, and anti-Blackness.
In reaction to the Judge’s action, Victoria Kirby York, Deputy Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, the leading national Black LGBTQ+ civil rights organization with headquarters in Florida, issued the following statement:
“As a person raised in the state of Florida who benefited from being able to take a Black History course in high school and earn college credit, I was astounded to witness the ludicrous proposal from Governor DeSantis limit the discussion of American History to privilege one group of people by ensuring they always feel good while causing many other communities significant pain simply by denying observable truths. It is no secret that our nation was founded on colonization, genocide, and enslaved labor and that the choices of the early settlers and colonizers have left impacts on systems built to exclude rather than include. “Hopefully, more decisions blocking unconstitutional censorship and surveillance laws like this one are on their way.”
