In his victory speech after winning a second gubernatorial term in November, Republican Ron De Santis proclaimed his state of Florida is where “ woke goes to die.” He’s been at war with the ideology since his first term, taking on some of the most powerful organizations, businesses and politicians in the country promoting it and trying to spread the woke virus to the children. He’s most famously been at odds with Disney, which has increasingly injected woke messaging into content marketed for America’s kids. The liberal media scoffed. No one’s pushing woke. He’s fighting a made-up enemy. It’s baloney—and Disney just proved it.
In a sinister cartoon airing on Disney + called “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder,” the characters proclaim, “Slaves built this country, and we have the descendants of slaves in America having earned reparations for their suffering and should continue to earn reparations every moment we spend submerged in a systemic prejudice, racist white supremacy that America was founded with and still has not atoned for.”
The show is a reboot of a popular show from 20 years ago, right around when the parents of Disney +’s audience were children themselves. Trying to tap into their parents’ nostalgia, Disney is using the trust established by the original brand and squandering it; using animated characters to promote its version of history through a woke and CRT prism.
The characters go on to denigrate President Lincoln and compare 1850’s slavery to modern-day racial “controversies “. “We had Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner and Frederick Douglass. Then they say Lincoln freed the slaves, but slaves were men and women and only WE can free ourselves. “ Emancipation is not freedom,” they sang. “ Jim Crow, segregation, redlining, public schools feeding feeding private prisons where we become slaves again.” Gobbledygook! This makes no sense.
This isn’t even revisionist history: It’s worse. It’s indoctrination. Almost everyone can agree that, of course, we should be teaching the next generation about the evils of slavery and how it’s existence was part of US history since before the official Founding. The problem is the woke only want their version of history taught: through the lens of CRT, where whiteness is evil and must be atoned for.
De Santis recently went to war with another powerful American entity, the College Board, over its inclusion of CRT in an Advanced Placement course on African-American history. De Santis’ threats to withdraw the course from Florida’s curriculum offerings were successful, and NPR reported recently the company buckled and changed gears: “ In the official (revised) framework made public, topics such as Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations and queer theory are no longer subjects to be taught.”
This is how opponents of wokeness win: by going into battle guns blazing. DeSantis knows the winning formula, and his successes are part of why he was so overwhelmingly re-elected. De Santis is using the same playbook in his war against Disney. As the news broke about this Disney+ show, the governors office is simultaneously taking aim at the entertainment giant’s bottom line. His office announced “ Florida is dissolving the Corporate Kingdom by permanently eliminating Disney’s self-governing status, appointing a state-controlled board accountable to to Floridians that can impose taxes on Disney for infrastructure projects, and insuring that Disney pays its own debts!” In short, no more free lunch for corporate Disney.
The woke war against our kids is unrelenting and takes no prisoners. Conservatives can only win the fight by making the woke play defense instead of allowing them the advantage of constant offense. Gov.De Santis recognizes this when he recently declared “ There’s a new sheriff in town!” His fellow Republicans should be taking notes.