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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis became a star within the Republican Party. He focuses on Kulturkampf issues.
“We will never capitulate to the woken mob. Everything in Florida will die woke.” Ron DeSantis shouted these words from the stage after he was re-elected governor of Florida with a brilliant result.
It is also an announcement for a presidential campaign before DeSantis has even declared his candidacy. Hardly anyone doubts that anymore. DeSantis can currently keep up with Donald Trump in polls. A large part of its popularity comes from its anti-weekeness policies.
There are only good words about Ron DeSantis at an evangelical Christian service in Miami. Evangelicals are an influential constituency; they helped Donald Trump win. Now evangelical Latinas and Latinos see DeSantis as a protector of their values against left-wing influences.
Legend:
The service of Rev. Dionny Baez, founder of the H2O Church, almost feels like a rock concert at times. But he represents conservative values.
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Pastor Dionny Baez represents conservative values. “I have a problem with others indoctrinating our children about their sexual orientation, in films or on television. I like that DeSantis stands up to Disney and other organizations. They’re trying to impose their values on the younger generation.”
His wife Yarissette Baez specifies: “They ask the children, are you male, female or something else? We, as parents, should educate the children about this.”
Legend:
Yarisette Baez is a co-founder of the H2O Church. Here a woman is baptized. It is important that politicians protect their Christian values, she says.
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It is an issue for which DeSantis stands politically like no other. He signs a law that bans speaking about homosexuality or gender identity in schools until third grade and then restricts it.
DeSantis also signs the STOP WOKE law. Among other things, it restricts how teaching may be carried out at universities. Because he says universities indoctrinate students politically. The law says, for example, that nobody should feel discriminated against in class because of the color of their skin, or that nobody should be persuaded in class.
“No indoctrination”
Professor Robert Cassanello teaches history at the University of Central Florida and also teaches racial segregation in the United States over the last century. The way he teaches is against the law, he says.
Legend:
Robert Cassanello: He doesn’t indoctrinate the students. But he convinced them to take ideas seriously, ideas like structural racism, meaning that certain structures in the US can still affect non-whites today.
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Cassanello has filed a lawsuit against the STOP WOKE law with others. It is currently pending in court. It’s about academic freedom. “Governor DeSantis wants to impose his conservative views on the university system,” he says. “The main thing is that issues that DeSantis finds terrible, such as structural racism, African American history or slavery, are restricted.”
Watered down content
The law is already having consequences, says Grace Castelin. The student is a senator of the student association and has introduced a resolution as a protest. “Several courses have already been cancelled. The courses related to history or culture that still exist are being watered down because the professors don’t want to be accused of a crime.”
Legend:
Grace Castelin sees the politics of Ron DeSantis and other Republicans as an attempt to influence the education system with conservative values.
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The law limits what you can learn. “The governor and others in the Republican party don’t like our generation because we’re leftist and modern. But that’s a good thing because we don’t want history to repeat itself. But they want to root it out.”