The South Carolina Republican said “there is no silver lining” in slavery when asked about new standards on how Black history is taught in Florida schools.
Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) rebuked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a rival for the GOP presidential nomination, on Thursday over new state standards on how Black history is taught in Florida schools, saying “there is no silver lining” in slavery.
The social studies standards, which DeSantis has defended, include teaching middle-schoolers that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Scott, the only Black Republican member of the U.S. Senate, strongly pushed back on that idea while speaking to reporters on the campaign trail in Ankeny, Iowa.
“As a country founded upon freedom, the greatest deprivation of freedom was slavery,” Scott said. “There is no silver lining … in slavery. … What slavery was really about [was] separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating. So, I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that.
