‘No Silver Lining in Slavery’: Tim Scott Voices Disapproval of Florida’s Curriculum on Slavery

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) during a working session regarding the Opportunity Zones provided by tax reform in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 14, 2018. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has criticized Florida’s new curriculum standards, which suggested that some Africans developed skills they could apply for a “personal benefit” while enslaved.

“There is no silver lining in slavery. The truth is anything you can learn, any benefits that people suggest that you had in slavery, you would’ve had as a free person. Slavery was really about separating families, mutilating humans, and even raping their wives. It was just devastating,” Mr. Scott said while talking to reporters.

“So, I would hope that every person in our country, and certainly someone running for president, would appreciate that. People have bad days. Sometimes, they regret what they say. And we should ask them again to clarify their positions.”

The Florida Department of Education’s new 216-page curriculum (pdf) on social studies delves into the history of African slavery in America. It covers multiple topics like positive influences and contributions made by African Americans as inventors, explorers, artists, and leaders.

However, a piece of text fueled criticism that the curriculum is being used to justify the slavery of Africans—“Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris claimed that Florida wanted to “replace history with lies” and that middle school students would be told that “enslaved people benefited from slavery.”

Speaking to Fox News on July 25, Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, hit back at Harris, insisting that she was promoting a “fake narrative” to use against his presidential campaign.

“There is no agenda here. It is just the truth,” Gov. DeSantis said about the new curriculum content. “And they talk in gory detail a lot of the bad in American history, including, of course, the injustice of slavery. But she is trying to perpetuate a hoax.”

While responding to a reporter on Thursday, Mr. DeSantis once again justified the curriculum: “Anyone that actually read that [curriculum] and then listens to Kamala would know that she’s lying. That particular provision about the skills, that was in spite of slavery not because of it.”

Currently, Mr. DeSantis has a massive lead over Scott in the GOP primaries according to a July 25 morning consult poll.

While Mr. DeSantis received the support of 16 percent of Republican primary voters and was ranked at the second spot behind Donald Trump, Scott was at the sixth position with just 2 percent support. Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pence, and Nikki Haley were ranked above Scott.

DeSantis is also ahead in terms of fundraising. While Scott raised over $7.5 million in the first six months of 2023, DeSantis had raised more than $20 million by the end of June.

Divisive Issue

In addition to Tim Scott, the Florida curriculum’s comment about slaves developing skills that could have personally benefited them has divided opinion among several Republicans and conservatives.

Rep. Byron Reynolds (R-Fla.) called the new African American curriculum in Florida “good, robust, & accurate,” according to a July 26 post on social media. “That being said, the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted. That obviously wasn’t the goal & I have faith that FLDOE will correct this,” he said referring to the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE).

Political commentator and author Matt Walsh criticized Reynolds for his “very disappointing” comments. “Any Republican who repeats Kamala Harris talking points loses huge amounts of credibility,” he said in a July 17 post on social media.

“The curriculum briefly mentions that some slaves utilized skills after being freed. This is objectively true and ‘we shouldn’t teach it because it hurts my feelings’ isn’t a legitimate or respectable position.”

Javon Price, a policy analyst at the America First Policy Institute, insisted that the DeSantis team “got this one wrong,” according to a July 27 post on social media.

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but slavery wasn’t beneficial whatsoever to the folks, like my ancestors, who were in bondage for generations. And for the folks saying that somehow admitting this is wrong, you’re part of the problem,” he said.

“Yes, slavery was ubiquitous across the world for most of human history—but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t bad. We fought and killed each other as Americans over this. I thought we decided decades ago that this was our country’s original sin. The fact that some conservatives continue to push this narrative as if it ‘wasn’t that bad’ is beyond me.”

Meanwhile, Dr. William Allen, a member of the Florida African American History Standards Workgroup who authored the state’s educational curriculum, has come out in defense of its content.

“It was never said that slavery was beneficial to Africans,” he said in an interview with ABC. “What was said, and anyone who reads this will see this with clarity—it is the case that Africans proved resourceful, resilient, and adaptive, and were able to develop skills and aptitudes which served to their benefit both while enslaved and after enslavement.”