According to a new report from The Daily Beast, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that essentially doubled the budget of the Office of Minority Health and Equity Health — a program DeSantis would typically disparage as “woke.”
Over the past few years, DeSantis has called on himself to lead the “anti-woke” crusade, which has included legislation like the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act”, and policies against “critical race theory.”
Daily Beast: Ron DeSantis’ Surprising Record With a ‘Woke’ Florida Health Office
By: Roger Sollenberger | March 13, 2023
Key Points:
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“In June 2021, DeSantis signed legislation beefing up the ‘Office of Minority Health and Equity Health,’ essentially doubling its budget. Among other initiatives, the bill required the office to ramp up efforts that ‘develop and promote the statewide implementation of policies, programs, and practices that increase health equity in this state.’”
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“DeSantis, widely considered the biggest Republican threat to former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, has boosted his national profile in large part by targeting government support for so-called ‘woke’ policies—initiatives that in general advocate for a more inclusive cultural understanding of and support for historically marginalized communities.”
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“While those reactionary efforts have received enthusiastic backing from the state’s conservative legislature, two years ago that legislature threw more muscle behind inclusive health outreach. The 2021 bill—which was spearheaded by some of Florida’s top progressives, including state Reps. Anna Eskimani and Kamia Brown—enjoyed unanimous bipartisan support in the legislature before DeSantis put his signature on it.”
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“The anti-wokeness crusade has not been lost on the people who, for two years, pushed DeSantis to expand minority outreach. Last month, Kyaien Conner, the USF researcher who helped design the 2021 bill, punched back at DeSantis’ latest attempts to hamstring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in higher ed.”
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“But as DeSantis potentially prepares himself for a 2024 presidential bid, any office with even the slightest hint of ‘wokeness’ is a prospective political liability.”
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“Former President Donald Trump has also made crusades against wokeness a key pillar of his campaign, and both men—ridiculous or not—are likely to trade barbs over whose record is more ‘woke.’”
Read the full report here.
Published: Mar 13, 2023