Holocaust book and course deemed to be woke

A book and online course newabout the Holocaust have failed to be approved for inclusion in Florida school libraries. The approval scheme was brought in for Florida school libraries to crack dwn on “woe indoctrintion” in Florida schools.

The policy, introduced by Ron DeSantis, is aimed at keeping what he thinks are ‘udesirable’ materials that deal with topics such as race and gender out of schools. This now extends to topics that have affected Jews.

One of the Holocaust textbooks was called “Modern Genocides”. This was rejected in part for its discussion of “special topics” such as “social justice” and “critical race theory.” It would be difficult for a book about Holocausts to ignore those threads. Be like having a book about weather without mentioning the Sun! The committee also deemed this book to be of low quality. Strange when it has a 5 Star rating on Amazon and other book sites, and gets very good reviews. It was written by a recognised authority, Professor of history and director of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies. However the DeSantis sycophants are obviously more knowledgeable than a known authority.

This book provides an indispensable resource for anyone researching the scourge of mass murder in the 20th and 21st centuries, effectively using primary source documents to help them understand all aspects of genocide.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Genocide-Documentary-Reference-Guides/dp/1440862338

The other was an online course from eDynamic Learning called “History of the Holocaust” intended for high school and college students. This company has an excellent track record of producing high quality online learning over many years. They also manage and monitor student learning in a very professional manner over a wide range of subjects.

This received low scores from the state’s educational review committee. Difficult to reconcile this with the well regarded quality of this company’s reputation.

So why would an authoritarian state leader who wishes to control what people, mainly women, do with their bodies, wants to ostracise anyone he thinks of as a ‘deviant’ and wants to control what people know and learn, wish to prevent school children from accessing material such as these?

Is it because students being aware of the process that led to the persecution of Jews might recognise parallels with what DeSantis and his cadre of enablers are doing in Florida, and what is happening in many other GOP states?

The other possibility is that DeSantis couldn’t care less about Jews?

Confusingly DeSantis signed a law in 2020 requiring schools to provide Holocaust education, but two years later giving parents the right to challenge books in school libraries. Parents in Florida have filed challenges that led to the temporary or permanent removal of Holocaust literature as they that they aree inappropriate for children. This has created a shambles where uninformed parents who are ignorant of teaching and the purpose of the school syllabus are able to interfere with education.

Not surprisingly, the constant interference with education is leading to a loss of people willing to teach in Florida and difficulties recruiting teachers (USA Today).

More information from the Jewish Telegraph