This op-ed was originally published in Florida Phoenix, and syndicated in Raw Story, Miami New Times, and The Miami Times.

The misshapen world that Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Leonard Leo, and other MAGA extremists are attempting to cement into every aspect of American life is deeply rooted in racism, sexism, and ethnonationalism.

As governor, DeSantis has arrogantly manipulated the instruments of political and legislative power not just to deride and disparage African Americans, but also to disassemble Florida’s relationship with the Black population while propagating lies about white European victimhood.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU) notes that “throughout his tenure, this governor has used the power of his office to subjugate and control the lives of Black people in Florida. The administration of Gov. DeSantis has demonstrated a disdain for Black people and their lives in Florida. His actions as governor demonstrate that under his governance, the lives of Black people are expendable.”

DeSantis sows distrust of Black people in ways not seen so blatantly since the Jim Crow era. As the ACLU’s Joey Francilus explains: “Black people in Florida are endangered by the whims of this same governor who, using the levers of his power, greatly diminished the last citizen-led Amendment 4 campaign to expand voting rights to nearly a million formerly incarcerated Floridians. This is the same governor who chilled Black protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.”

Francilus adds that DeSantis is “the same governor who used his power to eliminate a Black-access congressional district in North Florida. This is the same governor who removed the only Black woman state prosecutor from office, replacing her with an acolyte. This is the same governor who sought to censor Black history in classrooms and called slavery ‘beneficial’ for Black people.”

_{African American school building in Leon County, 1957. (Photo via State Library and Archives of Florida)}

Racial Hierarchy

DeSantis has waged his war on Black people for several reasons, including to bolster his cred when he ran for president and because it’s a central feature of the far-right wing Republican Party’s culture wars. DeSantis isn’t alone, with Republican leaders of at least 18 states hopping on the retrenchment bandwagon.

The governor, and those who share his viewpoint, are “fixated on returning the country’s social order to its antebellum racial hierarchy” and seeks to reimagine slavery as a benign institution, Francilus argues.

Issues of race percolate into every aspect of our lives — in schools, businesses, in our homes, communities, and neighborhoods. In the past, as now. DeSantis seeks to use race to bludgeon African Americans into compliance.

Florida has a repugnant history of harm against its Black residents as they sought to live their lives, working to block their attempt to exercise their legal and democratic right to vote, live where they want, pursue a quality education and good jobs.

For about 20 years, I lived, worked, and earned degrees in community college and university settings in Miami and Tallahassee. I saw the racial damage and trauma on individuals and systems up close.

I grew up in the U.K. and Jamaica but learned a great deal about Florida and Southern history from my African American friends, historians, griots, politicians, and close watchers of the state’s and region’s social, economic, and political storylines. It has never been easy to be a Black person in places where just below the surface racism festers.

African Americans and other Black residents faced barriers to employment, health care, quality education, and continuing problems with law enforcement.

Despite certifiable social, legal, and economic progress by Black people, the shadow of the confederacy and depraved racism continues to hang heavily over Florida. Men, women, and children endured ghastly behavior from defenders of the American apartheid system. Folks were murdered, raped, debased, spat upon, and brutalized merely for the color of their skin.

Unaccountable

Female friends shared stories of their childhood in the South and having to always keep an eye out for random white men and boys who routinely kidnapped and raped young girls, teens, and women. One friend spoke of barely escaping predators who attempted to snatch her off the street several times.

Rarely, if ever, were these brutes ever held accountable for their crimes. Black people were unprotected and knew not to look to the vast majority of sheriffs, police, or judges for protection or justice because they stood squarely on the side of the transgressors.

_{African American homes in Tampa, 1927, during the Jim Crow era. (Photo via State Library and Archives of Florida)}

Redlining and other measures ensured that Black people lived in segregated communities where local and state governments routinely under-investigated anti-Black crime. Often, Black residents in these communities couldn’t obtain credit or loans; they were forced to accept substandard jobs for considerably less wages and salaries; and their schools couldn’t compete with those in white communities because of the withholding of financial support because of in lower property taxes in their school districts, which resulted in inferior schools.

Examples of redlining can be found in several financial services, including mortgages, student loans, credit cards, and insurance. Although the Community Reinvestment Act was passed in 1977 to help prevent redlining, critics say discrimination continues to occur.

Targeting African Americans in the present is a noxious game that DeSantis, MAGA, and far-right elements of what used to be the Republican Party have weaponized. It is part of their putrid narrative of white victimhood and pervasive gaslighting.

No Different

One of the ironies of life as a Black person in America is that, if asked, they would tell you that, at the end of the day, they are no different from any other American. They want to be treated like human beings and desire the same things to which others here aspire — freedom from police occupation of their neighborhoods, brutality and murder; access to decent, well-paying jobs; a quality education; affordable housing and health care.

But it’s specifically because they are Black that they continue to incur wrath from DeSantis, Donald Trump, and a society that has been fed a steady diet of damaging lies, stereotypes, distortions, and half-truths. The wider society is told Black people are criminals; lazy; uneducated; simple-minded; oversexed; savage; in need of white sympathy, pity, and guidance.

DeSantis, attorney and talk show host Dean Obeidallah explains, is a purveyor of toxic white-identity politics. He and his MAGA supporters are crusaders for racial domination by the proportionately shrinking white population in the United States.

DeSantis’ primary concerns are to position himself to run for president in 2028 by showing white people that he’s standing up for them and their interests.

Since DeSantis ran for president, the country has supposedly moved further to the right and, with Project 2025 and Elon Musk, white nationalist extremists have launched all-out, multipronged assaults on Black history, civil rights, DEI, EEOC, affirmative action, and other programs, policies, and initiatives, all with the intention of dragging the country back to the Jim Crow era.

As Obeidallah notes, despite intense criticism, lawsuits, and protests, DeSantis’ primary concerns are to position himself to run for president again in 2028 by showing white people that he’s standing up for them and their interests.

Unfortunately, we will continue to be lectured about morality and patriotism by a man who possesses neither. The state will have to continue to endure the rantings of a menace and a bully. Past is prologue: There’s no commitment to fairness, no obligation to redress past ills, and no acknowledgement of the theft of Black lives, jobs, and resources as a direct result of white racism and bigotry.

Expect little or nothing to change. Florida’s Black residents be damned.

Across the country, right-wing groups are working to dismantle long-standing anti-discrimination protections and statutory mandates by targeting what they broadly refer to as diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). These attacks on DEIA are not new. Rather, they’re part of a broader strategy to discredit DEIA and weaponize the term itself, expanding its definition to encompass any ideas right-wing politicians disagree with under the guise of opposing “identity politics.”

Since the Supreme Court's blow to affirmative action in higher education admissions in 2023, state lawmakers have introduced more than 106 anti-DEIA bills. Now, President Donald Trump’s administration is working to eradicate DEIA initiatives and civil rights protections with executive orders that would reverse decades of federal anti-discrimination policies.

We know that these policies and initiatives are essential to upholding civil rights, addressing discrimination, and ensuring all communities have a chance at the American dream. Though Trump and other right-wing leaders have threatened to turn back the clock on many years of progress, nothing in federal law has changed. Decades of legal precedent remain and institutions continue to have an obligation to uphold them.

DEIA is not an abstract concept; it is a framework for building institutions where everyone belongs and is able to thrive, while addressing systemic barriers that have historically excluded marginalized communities.

• Diversity ensures representation among qualified persons across race, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, socioeconomic status, military status, shared ancestry, parental status, persons who live in rural communities, and more so that institutions reflect the communities they serve.
• Equity recognizes that inequalities exist and works to dismantle the barriers that disproportionately harm marginalized communities, ensuring fairness in access to resources and opportunities.
• Inclusion ensures that institutions are not just diverse, but that all individuals, especially those historically excluded, can fully participate and contribute without fear of discrimination or bias.
• Accessibility expands opportunities for individuals of all abilities by removing physical, technological, and systemic barriers that may prevent full participation in society through reasonable accommodations, inclusive work and public spaces, and more.

By embedding these principles into admission practices in educational institutions and recruitment, promotion, and retention efforts within workplaces and the military, we create a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible America that betters education outcomes, increases business performance, and creates equitable opportunity for all, not special privileges for some.

DEIA initiatives were a direct response to widespread, institutionalized discrimination in America. Landmark policies, like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, laid the groundwork to outlaw discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Over time, additional federal anti-discrimination laws such as Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act expanded civil rights protections to include gender equity, disability rights, and protections for LGBTQ+ individuals. Building on these legal foundations, public and private sector entities expanded initiatives, programs, and workplace policies to increase access to education, employment, and public contracting opportunities.

The recent attacks on civil rights protections are part of a larger backlash that has intensified starting in 2020, when the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor sparked unprecedented nationwide protests that ignited a renewed push for racial justice. In response, workplaces, schools, and other institutions worked to expand DEIA efforts in their communities, inciting aggressive pushback from far-right leaders. This backlash has escalated and the Trump administration is now taking action to dismantle DEIA policies and anti-discrimination protections in public and private institutions.

In addition, the Trump administration has called to dismantle, impose significant budget cuts and employee reductions on, federal agencies that play a crucial role in ensuring fair hiring practices, enforcing civil rights laws and regulations, and addressing racial and economic disparities. Agencies including the Department of Education, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These agencies not only enforce civil rights laws and regulations to prevent and combat discrimination, they also ensure that government programs remain accessible to all individuals, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and those with limited English proficiency.

The push to dismantle DEIA and reduce or eliminate the enforcement authority of federal agencies represents a coordinated and deliberate attack on long-standing civil rights advancements. These efforts, including Trump’s executive order to roll back policies that have empowered the Department of Labor to affirmatively ensure equal opportunity in federal contracting since 1965, threaten to undo decades of federal anti-discrimination policies.

Education: DEIA is integral to ensuring that all students receive a quality education. Research has shown that inclusive K-12 and college curricula and environments are highly predictive of student retention and academic success – not just for students of color, but for all students. When young people feel they belong and have access to diverse spaces, they can fully engage academically, increase understanding and respect across differences, and succeed in society.

The principles of DEIA are deeply embedded in the provision of education, including in effective pedagogy and state and local laws and standards. DEIA efforts in education include policies that ensure educational environments are free from harassment or discrimination, as well as permit students to embrace their identities and learn about their history.

Military: DEIA policies in the military help ensure that qualified individuals are not excluded based on race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or disability – factors unrelated to their ability to serve. Military leaders themselves have pushed back, defending DEIA efforts by emphasizing that a diverse and inclusive military is a stronger and more effective force.

Throughout military history, however, discriminatory policies kept entire groups of people from serving in the armed forces. Black service members were subject to segregation through World War II and LGBTQ+ service members were forced to hide their identities under policies like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell until its repeal in 2011. Transgender individuals were similarly restricted from service until the Pentagon lifted that ban in 2016, only to see their efforts rolled back under the Trump administration and then reinstated again in 2021. Women, too, faced systemic exclusion, barred from combat roles until 2015, when the military finally opened up previously off-limits positions.

Workplace: Building diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces is essential for strengthening businesses, fostering innovation, and driving economic growth in both public and private sectors. DEIA efforts in employment include: Programs that aim to prevent workplace discrimination and harassment, pursuant to federal, state, and local laws and regulations; actions to achieve pay equity and transparency; parental leave and lactation rooms for nursing/pumping; time off for religious observances; mental health and disability resources and more.

When employers commit to DEIA, they: Reduce legal and financial risk by minimizing employment discrimination claims and the monetary settlements and judgments that can follow; .Foster inclusive, comfortable, and supportive work environments that lead to a productive workforce; and Drive innovation and profit by leveraging the diverse ideas, perspectives, and experiences of employees who are representative of every aspect of both American and global societies.

The ACLU will speak out against efforts from the federal government to attack DEIA and erase decades of progress toward a more equitable society. Everyone benefits when we all have access to the core pillars of our democratic society that ensure equitable access to opportunity.

The ACLU, our affiliates, and our partners in the movement will continue to challenge threats to critical federal anti-discrimination protections and unlawful attempts to bully institutions into abandoning these essential practices for ensuring everyone has a chance to succeed. Now more than ever, institutions must stand firm in their commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

“What matters to me, as a former teacher and current litigator, is that students see themselves in what they learn and feel empowered to make change,” says Leah Watson, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Racial Justice Program. “It’s unacceptable to force students to accept the government’s talking points even when those views are not only inaccurate, but racist and sexist.”

As a member of the ACLU’s Racial Justice Project since 2020, Watson’s work focuses on preventing the government from enforcing its discriminatory agenda. She has, understandably, been even busier since President Donald Trump was reelected and began to gut federally-supported diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and to coerce other entities – like universities or workplaces – into abandoning DEI entirely.

Watson was ready for it. She’s been here before.

Credit: Leah Watson

Watson is a member of the legal team that challenged Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E Act — one of the broadest state laws to come out of the “war on woke” — that focused on restricting any instruction perceived as affirming the role that race plays in American society. The ACLU’s lawsuit successfully blocked enforcement of the higher education restrictions of the STOP W.O.K.E Act, a decision that has been appealed.

While blocking the Stop W.O.K.E Act is a win, Trump and conservative politicians have continued to pass unconstitutional laws and executive orders to censor student and faculty speech about race, racism, sex, and sexism. These bills not only violate educators’ First and 14th Amendments – they’re a violation of students’ First Amendment right to receive information, an injustice that Watson, a former Political Science and World History educator, is inspired to stop.

“Censorship has an outsized impact on young people who are in school for such a limited period and may never receive instruction necessary to equip them to live in a diverse society. They need to develop critical thinking, analysis, and problem solving skills to succeed,” Watson says. “The classroom should be that space; it should not be limited to regurgitation of the government’s talking points.”

When any student is denied the right to learn – one that includes instruction on racism and sexism, as well as narratives from BIPOC and LGBTQ authors, experts and characters – they are denied the right to see themselves reflected in what they’re taught, to form their own opinions, to express themselves and to truly connect to the concepts they’re learning. Watson notes that the current and proposed censorship laws would have prevented her from educating her students on their own history.

Credit: Leah Watson

“How could I explain the need for the 13th, 14th, or 19th Amendments without any discussion of racism or sexism?” she wonders. “What about the 3/5ths compromise or the existence of oppression in other cultures? Even current events, like racially-motivated mass shootings, require context that would be prohibited.”

In addition to ensuring her students had the tools needed to think critically in a diverse society, as an educator, Watson also personalised her teaching strategies to the strengths and weaknesses of students in a process known as differentiation, which is simply meeting students where they are. Some students need to learn vocabulary to access the textbook while others have mastered the vocabulary and are ready to build analytical skills, including prediction.

Even as she saw success with her students, Watson understood that the achievement gap isn’t limited to classrooms. “So many of the issues that stop students from learning – malnutrition, poverty, homelessness, violence – are things that happen before they even get to school,” Watson explains. “I wanted to have a tangible impact on young people [because I recognized that] performance on quizzes depends on more than classroom instruction. Students’ immediate needs must be met for their brains to have capacity to learn.”

Credit: Leah Watson

Seeing the obstacles to closing the achievement gap inspired Watson to explore other avenues to support Black and brown families, especially students. While attending Harvard Law School, she worked with young people facing adversity, including children experiencing trauma and survivors of domestic violence. As a civil rights litigator, some of her earliest work challenged the criminalization of poverty, and developed strategies to reduce violent police encounters with students. She also focused on how race can be used to increase equity not just in school, but in the workforce, in health care, law enforcement, in trainings and more. Of course, the idea that race can – and should – be considered runs counter to the Trump administration’s discriminatory narrative that uses equity-based concepts and practices, like DEI and CRT, as racialized dog whistles.

“The so-called attack on DEI is much broader than actual DEI, which is a strategy to increase the recruitment, promotion, and retention of historically marginalized groups,” Watson says. “It is an attempt to re-whitewash history and avoid the historic, systemic, and present denial of opportunity and access due to white supremacy and patriarchy.”

Right now, anti-DEI efforts are the new frontier in the racial justice movement and Watson is at the forefront of the fight. For years, she has been following the anti-equity agenda to identify the key actors and the playbook they’re using to deny the existence of racism and sexism across industries or institutions in society. Today, she’s focused on using that information to mount an offense against attacks on DEI, like the Trump administration’s recent executive orders bullying private and governmental entities into abandoning legal DEI efforts to promote equity and remedy systemic discrimination.

For Watson, not only are the Trump administration’s efforts unlawful and harmful, they single out marginalized groups for erasure. So often, Watson explains, she speaks with clients who tell her she was one of the first people to listen to their experience and explain how their constitutional rights have been infringed. This reaffirms for Watson that, even when powerful politicians denigrate her work and her community, the fight for racial justice and equity is – and has always been – about people.

“To me, winning is not about winning a case,” Watson says. “It’s about winning someone’s understanding and faith. It’s about fighting for people whose existence is being ignored or erased.”

Our series, Behind the Fight for Our Rights, asks individuals defending our freedoms how they’re thinking about the next four years. Below, Watson shares insight into her life – both professional and personal – under the Trump administration.

ACLU: What are you most looking forward to in the next four years?

WATSON: I’m most looking forward to affirmatively pursuing and holding the line on consideration of race in various settings. I’m looking forward to resisting efforts to minimize or ignore the impact of racism across industries or institutions in society.

ACLU: What is the biggest challenge you’re expecting in the next four years?

WATSON: Professionally, my biggest challenge will be to counter the erasure of the continuing effects of discrimination in our society. Discrimination doesn’t cease to exist because President Trump won’t acknowledge it. We must use our legal tools to establish the need for continued consideration of race and other protected categories where necessary to ensure opportunity and access for all.

ACLU: What do you wish people knew more about the fight for racial justice?

WATSON: People believe that racial justice work only benefits BIPOC people, but it’s for everyone. We all benefit from a diverse society where everyone has opportunity.

ACLU: What is one thing you wish you knew about the fight for racial justice?

WATSON: I wish I knew more ways of affirmatively reclaiming the terms race and racism. We’re seeing both those words being demonised and made toxic in ways that aren’t true.