Making American History Great Again: Florida 2024, Mississippi, 1964: Lessons from the past
Making American History Great Again: Florida 2024, Mississippi, 1964: Lessons from the past

Summary/Abstract: On 22 April 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Stop Woke Act into law and in one stroke attempted to overturn years of scholarly study and understanding about the demands for civil rights in the United States that go back to the American colonial experience beginning in the seventeenth century. The law prohibits meaningful discussion of race, labor, and civil rights in the classroom, claiming that contemporary historical interpretation is propaganda bandied by a liberal cabal to undermine the State. The law dog whistles white supremacists and calls to mind Donald Trump’s slogan, ‘Make America Great Again,’ resurrecting memories of James Eastland, Confederate battle flags, and an America untroubled by segregation. Controlling historical narratives undergirds authoritarian narratives about the nature of the State. DeSantis illiberal politics dominates the Florida legislature resulting in law that erodes the ability of educators at all levels to teach meaningful lessons about American civil society. How can historians and social studies teachers address this dilemma posed by a state mandate? The Mississippi Freedom Schools curriculum in 1964 offered a variety of ways to confront and replace oppressive and dangerous narratives that raised consciousness, enabling many to join the demand for civil rights. This paper studies Florida’s contemporary usage of history, its connections to previous racist and authoritarian movements, and the possibilities offered by the Mississippi Freedom School curriculum to create a counter narrative.

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