Florida’s Senate Education Committee approved legislation endorsed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday that would ban public schools and businesses from making white people feel “discomfort,” according to The Associated Press.  

Approved strictly on party lines, with Republicans in support and Democrats against, the bill is the latest effort by conservatives to go after critical race theory.  

“This bill’s not for Blacks, this bill was not for any other race. This was directed to make whites not feel bad about what happened years ago,” state Sen. Shevrin Jones said, AP reported. “At no point did anyone say white people should be held responsible for what happened, but what I would ask my white counterparts is, are you an enabler of what happened or are you going to say we must talk about history?” 

Democrats claim that the bill encourages censorship in schools and would lead to lawsuits.  

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According to AP, DeSantis called critical race theory “crap” last month. He also supports allowing parents to sue schools and teachers if they teach students about CRT.  

The Individual Freedom bill reads: “An individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, does not bear responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex. An individual should not be made to feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race.” 

Republicans deny the bill is meant to sanitize the country’s past but to make sure that people today aren’t being blamed for the past.  

“No individual is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously, solely by the virtue of his or her race or sex,” Republican Sen. Manny Diaz, who sponsored the bill, said. “No race is inherently superior to another race.” 

In a press conference in December, DeSantis referenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., regarding his position on CRT, according to AP.  

 “You think about what MLK stood for. He said he didn’t want people ‘judged on the color of their skin but on the content of their character.’ You listen to some of these people nowadays, they don’t talk about that.” he said.