Christopher Columbus Says Slavery Was ‘Better than Getting Killed’ in New Videos Approved for Florida Students
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Florida has approved using controversial animated videos created by an unaccredited, right-wing group as supplemental teaching materials
Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty
First Landing of Christopher ColumbusMonths after Florida canceled a class on African American history, the state has now endorsed the use of a controversial collection of videos by an unaccredited, right-wing group — some of which show animated versions of Christopher Columbus and Frederick Douglass defending slavery to students.
The videos are the creation of PragerU, an organization founded by conservative radio host Dennis Prager. While the videos are not considered required content in Florida schools, the state's Department of Education has said the PragerU material "aligns to Florida’s revised civics and government standards" and "can be used as supplemental materials in Florida schools at district discretion."
One of the videos, which has recently gone viral on social media, utilizes Columbus as a means of instructing students about slavery.
"Slavery is as old as time and has taken place in every corner of the world," the fictional Columbus says in one of the videos. "Even among the people I just left."
The video continues: "Being taken as a slave is better than being killed, no? Before you judge, you must ask yourself, 'What did the culture and society of the time treat as no big deal?'"
The Pensacola News Journal reports that in another PragerU video, two children travel back in time to meet Frederick Douglass, the most famous leader of the abolitionist movement to end slavery. In the video, the animated version of Douglass — who was enslaved himself and recounted being brutalized numerous times — seemingly sympathizes with the notion of slavery, calling it a "compromise."
"I'm certainly not OK with slavery, but the Founding Fathers made a compromise to achieve something great, the making of the United States," the animated Douglass says in the video, adding: "It was America that began the conversation to end it."
The News Journal reports that another video in the PragerU Kids collection compares protesters in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement "to Mexican cartel members."
The Florida Department of Education's endorsement of these videos comes amid recent moves by the agency and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that have led to book bans, the rejection of AP African American history courses, and the recent approval of new academic standards which require middle school teachers to instruct that enslaved people "developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."
DeSantis himself has defended the state's new education standards around slavery, saying the lessons are "probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life."
In recent months and years, Florida state officials have also banned the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in K-12 schools — a move that has led to a battle between the state and The College Board over the national AP Psychology class, which the company has said cannot count for credit in Florida without the inclusion of lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation.
And a result of a rule implemented in July, Florida students will now be required to get their parents' consent before using a nickname or alternate name in schools, a move that critics say targets the LGBTQ+ community and could extend well beyond.
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DeSantis — who is now running for president — has said Florida backs "education not indoctrination," though the founder of PragerU has explicitly said the content created by his company is meant to indoctrinate children.
In footage from a 2023 conference in Philadelphia, Prager spoke about a conversation he had with protesters, saying he asked them. “'I really wanted to hear what evidence do you have that I am despicable?' And all I heard was, ‘Well, because you indoctrinate kids.’ Which is true. We bring doctrines to children. That is a very fair statement. I said, ‘But what is the bad of our indoctrination?’"
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