DeSantis appears to back woman who led Amanda Gorman poem school ban

[Eugene]

Some earlier DU threads:
• The Florida woman who got Amanda Gorman's book banned is a PB loving Xtian Nationalist
• FL mom who tried to ban Amanda Gorman's poem promoted the Protocols of the Elders of Zion

______________________________________________________________________

Source: The Guardian

DeSantis appears to back woman who led Amanda Gorman poem school ban

Florida governor accuses media of creating ‘ridiculous poem hoax’ after complaint targeted verse recited at Biden inauguration

Richard Luscombe in Miami
@richlusc
Fri 26 May 2023 18.01 BST
Last modified on Fri 26 May 2023 21.31 BST

Ron DeSantis on Friday appeared to defend a woman who got Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem The Hill We Climb removed from a Miami school, even though she has attended events alongside white supremacist and far-right groups.

The Republican Florida governor, who entered the race for his party’s 2024 presidential nomination with a botched launch on Twitter on Wednesday, said parents such as Daily Salinas were saving children from political ideology “the left [is] trying to jam in” to schools.

-snip-

Salinas, a parent of two children at the Bob Graham education center in Miami Lakes, who has been photographed attending rallies by the neo-fascist Proud Boys group, admitted she had read only “snippets” of several books she sought to have banned from the campus.

They include the ABCs of Black History, poetry by Langston Hughes and books on Cuba, all of which she has criticized for “indirect hate messages”, references to critical race theory and gender indoctrination.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/26/ron-desantis-amanda-gorman-poem-ban

No-Registration link: https://archive.is/Mxnxu

[Diamond_Dog]

1. They are all

a bunch of hammer headed morons. Probably don’t understand or read any poetry ever.

[TheProle]

2. Poetry requires humanity

Hang her around his neck and to hell with the both of them.

[markie]

3. just because...

we need MORE poetry!!! fuck desantis and his ilk


I, Too
BY LANGSTON HUGHES
I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

[BlueCheeseAgain]

4. This article is unclear.

Did he actually mention that one parent specifically, or was it a general statement that the reporter interpreted as supporting that one parent? The article contains a quote, but that quote doesn't include her name.

Not only that, there's a factual error in the first sentence of the article. It says Amanda Gorman's poem was "removed from a Miami school", even though (1) the poem was removed from the elementary school section of the library, and (2) the school is in a town called Miami Lakes, which is not part of Miami. I know these aren't important details, but it shows how sloppy the reporting is. I expect a lot better from the Guardian, which is one of the UK's leading newspapers.

[Eugene]

5. The linked article notes that DeSantis alludes to the controversy as a "ridiculous poem hoax"

concocted by the media. Other media outlets also report this.

The parts of the article not quoted, due to copyright limits,
go on in detail about the school, the town and who Ms. Salinas is.
The article also provides links to prior reporting for context.

Daily Salinas' activities are pubic record, including her complaint against the poem.
She is a far-right activist who stands with the Proud Boys and who only recently
deleted some of her most vile social media posts. However, the internet never forgets.

Link to tweet

[BlueCheeseAgain]

6. The article is much longer now than when I read it earlier.

And you're right, he was referring to this exact incident. He's a dangerous and autocratic numbskull, but I guess we already knew that.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

7. of course