Stephen A. Smith Turns on Ron DeSantis Over Florida’s Black History Teaching Standards: ‘The Battles He’s Fighting Are Just Unconscionable’

Stephen A. Smith appeared to renege support for Florida Governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis after new curriculum for teaching Black history was introduced in the state.

Smith discussed the topic on the Friday edition of his self titled-podcast The Stephen A. Smith Show.

According to CBS News, which received a copy of the Florida social studies curriculum for 2023, students will learn how “slaves developed skills” that could be used for their “personal benefit.” That part of the curriculum will be presented under African-American studies which will be taught to students in sixth through eighth grade.

“To Governor Ron DeSantis from Florida. My man, I am a registered independent, although most of the time in my life, I voted, I have voted Democrat. I’m not that enamored with the Democratic party. I’m not that enamored with what is affectionately to some, unaffectionately to others, described as woke — this woke culture that we’re living in,” Smith said.

“I agree with some of the points that you have made in the past, so much so that I was actually hoping you’d win the Republican nomination because I certainly don’t believe that Donald Trump should be the president of the United States of America,” Smith said. “But the more I see stories like this, the more it alerts me to the fact that Ron DeSantis, you don’t need to be governor — sorry. You don’t need to be president either.”

Smith was baffled by the new standards and noted that African-American studies have been taught in the state since 1994.

“The battles that he’s fighting are just unconscionable. Why is the governor concerning himself with African-American studies? By the way, in the state of Florida it’s been taught since 1994. Why are you concerning yourself with such things?” Smith said.

Smith also took issue with the Florida legislature that agreed to bar “instruction in public schools that suggests anyone is privileged or oppressed based on their race or skin color.”

“Are you trying to deny the fact that white folks have been privileged compared to other races of people in this country? Are you kidding me?” Smith said. “That is a fact that even white folks haven’t denied. That’s how affirmative action came to be.”

Watch above via The Stephen A. Smith Show podcast.

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