The Trump Revolution continues in Florida

The titles are very varied, but there is a common thread: “Of the top 10 banned books, four are about gender and LGBTI and six are about black American stories,” says Tritt. “It is clear which groups want to make invisible.”

The new laws in Florida, one of which is literally de Stop woke up act hot, giving parents and school boards the power to put books with “offensive content” on a banned list. Teachers can object to this a book ban, but parents can then sue the teacher. Upon signing the law, Governor DeSantis announced that in these cases the parents will be reimbursed for legal fees by the state.

As a result, many teachers leave it like this to avoid problems. “We are seeing self-censorship or the abandonment of colleagues,” says Tritt. He himself, in a fit of activism, opted for a counterattack; hence all his books to his home. They are intended to be distributed at events and therefore to keep banned books in circulation as much as possible.

Governor DeSantis is described by the US media as “Trump with brain”. He is intelligent, disciplined and communicates loud and clear. “Woke is a form of cultural Marxism, they want to tear apart our society and culture,” declared its Stop Woke law. “We must protect our children from the pernicious ideologies imposed on them.”

For example, Florida is becoming a test case for how far legislation can be extended into a “red” state, with Republican DeSantis fully committed to cultural issues. “They work like a piece of red meat, they stand out more,” said James Judge, a member of the DeSantis party running for a seat in Congress in this election. “This is a conscious strategy of him, constantly staying in the media and also attracting national attention.”

It leads to a trend that has accelerated in recent years, in which the “blue” and “red” American states are diverging more and more in their laws. Here’s how it explained progressive California turns to “abortion sanctuary”, while a growing list of conservative states have banned the practice. The same division can be seen in gun laws, LGBT rights and electoral laws. And so the book bans.

Governor DeSantis defends the laws by pointing out that the book ban applies to children under the age of nine. “It should be normal for you not to teach these kids about sexuality,” the judge said. “It is actually crazy that a law is needed for this.” But for children over the age of nine, the law states that education is “age appropriate”.

“And this is deliberately a very vague wording in the law,” says teacher Adam Tritt. Because it works, he says. “Every teacher therefore wants to stay as far away from these issues as possible. For fear that you will say something that is not considered” age appropriate “.

Understanding of history in general also falters as a result, Tritt sees. Lying on his dining table The secret annexthe diary of Anne Frank and the international bestseller The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. “Anne Frank discusses her sexual feelings in this edition of the book, and in The Kite Runner There’s a rape scene, “says Tritt.” That’s why these books should be removed from the class entirely. “

He takes a book on civil rights activist Rosa Parks from the pile of banned publications. “They are afraid of these books. They are afraid that whites will think badly of themselves if they read about the struggles that black Americans have had to face,” she says the teacher. “Then let’s stop learning about the other’s story.”

On November 8, the Americans will vote for a new House of Representatives and a new Senate. It’s the first nationwide election since the 2020 presidential election, so that’s a lot more than seats in Congress.