Just in time for Black history month, Ron DeSantis is trying to erase Black history, so it’s a time not only to reflect on our past, but to take a close look at right now. 

Right now, African Americans are more financially secure than we’ve ever been. The majority of us live in suburbs and rural areas, not cities. Many of us are college educated, and we work in careers, not jobs. 

We are an amazing people, and not just because of what we have achieved. We are amazing because of what we’ve overcome. We’ve overcome enslavement and Jim Crow. We’ve overcome poverty and hatred. But more than that, we continue to overcome systems that are lined up against us.

Our children are more likely to be suspended from school. Our women are more likely to have problems in childbirth. We’re denied mortgages at twice the rate of our white counterparts. We’re more likely to get audited by the IRS. We’re more likely to be killed by the police. And with all that working against us, it’s no wonder we die four years earlier than White Americans.

DeSantis tries to erase Black history

With Ron DeSantis in Florida working to stop advanced placement classes on African American studies, and trying to ban diversity and inclusion from state universities, we are facing a new battle even now. But in spite of every effort to stop us, we are starting businesses, buying homes, building wealth, and driving change. 

We are the ones who decide what’s hot. We are the ones who create the trends. We are the ones who push pop culture. We are the ones who shape the future. 

So, while we are thrilled that two Black quarterbacks are playing in the Super Bowl, we’re even more thrilled that a Black woman is Vice President. That a Black man is House Minority Leader. That there’s a sister on the Supreme Court.  

I can’t wait to see where Black history goes from here. But I know that whatever happens, my people will overcome. 

Photo: Governor Ron DeSantis by Gage Skidmore. Creative Commons License

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