Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the party is always right.
Florida law would bar university and college officials from limiting speech that "may be uncomfortable, disagreeable or offensive"
This purely fascist anti-equality, anti-uniformity of opinions, anti-thoughtcrime drive must not go unanswered
In a push against so-called cancel culture, the Republican majority in the Florida Legislature is ready to pass legislation that would require public colleges and universities to survey students, faculty and staff about their beliefs and viewpoints.
The survey is part of a broader measure that would also bar university and college officials from limiting speech that "may be uncomfortable, disagreeable or offensive", and would allow students to record lectures without consent to support a civil or criminal case against a higher-education institution.
The objective, according to the bill sponsors, is to protect the "intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity" on state campuses. But university faculty members worry the proposal, House Bill 233, is likely to send a chilling effect on their freedom of speech.
"I worry that this bill will force a fearful self-consciousness that is not as much about learning and debate as about appearances and playing into an outside audience", said Cathy Boehme, a researcher with the Florida Education Association.
Despite being short in details, the bill says the survey should discern "the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented" in public university and college campuses. It also seeks to find whether students, faculty and staff "feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom".
Rodrigues said the governing boards that oversee university and colleges would determine whether something needs to be done in response.
"If the results came back and showed that there was a lack of intellectual freedom, or lack of viewpoint diversity, my hope would be that the governing body of the institution would recognize and find that unacceptable, and announced what the plan is to address that", Rodrigues said.
In a push against so-called cancel culture, the Republican majority in the Florida Legislature is ready to pass legislation that would require public colleges and universities to survey students, faculty and staff about their beliefs and viewpoints.
