As Gov. Ron DeSantis Preps White House Run, PEN America Sues Florida School District over Book Ban

With Ron DeSantis expected to formally announce his run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination this week, we look at his controversial record as governor of Florida, which has been marked by attacks on LGBTQ rights, immigrants, public education, antiracism initiatives and more. The NAACP recently issued a travel advisory for Florida, deeming the state to be “openly hostile” to Black Americans and other minority groups. Meanwhile, PEN America, the book publishing company Penguin Random House and several authors and parents are suing the Pensacola, Florida, school board for banning books on race and LGBTQ issues from school libraries for violating the First Amendment. The censorship “runs counter to the very role and purpose of public schools in a democracy,” says Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America. We also speak with Kellie Carter Jackson, an associate professor of Africana studies at Wellesley College, who recently participated in a Florida teach-in to push back against DeSantis’s censorship. “We can’t discuss major events, major turning points, without talking about Black people, without talking about women, without talking about LGBTQ people,” she says.

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