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Florida is the first state in the nation to officially restrict how workplaces can discuss racism and bias.
Republican governor Ron DeSantis signed into law the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act, or Stop WOKE Act— a bill that regulates how schools and employers can talk about race and gender—on April 22.
“We believe an important component of freedom in the state of Florida is the freedom from having oppressive ideologies imposed upon you without your consent,” DeSantis said at the bill signing event at Mater Academy Charter Middle/High School in Hialeah Gardens last month. “Whether it be in the classroom or whether it be in the workplace, we decided to do something about it.”
Effective July 1, the polarizing new law outlaws discriminating against certain people on the basis of race “to achieve diversity, equity, or inclusion,” which appears to be an indirect nod to affirmative action, which has been banned in Florida for over 20 years. The Stop WOKE Act also designates the idea that “an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin” as an unlawful employment practice. It also prohibits the idea that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, bears...
The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has rejected claims that he has withdrawn or rescinded the gazetted renaming of Graaff-Reinet to Robert Sobukwe Town, along with other geo...