TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) 鈥 A federal judge in Florida on Thursday blocked a law pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in colleges.
Tallahassee U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a temporary injunction against the so-called 鈥淪top Woke鈥 act in a ruling that called the legislation 鈥減ositively dystopian.鈥
The prohibits teaching or business practices that contend members of one ethnic group are inherently racist and should feel guilt for past actions committed by others. It also bars the notion that a person鈥檚 status as privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by their race or gender, or that discrimination is acceptable to achieve diversity.
"Our professors are critical to a healthy democracy, and the State of Florida鈥檚 decision to choose which viewpoints are worthy of illumination and which must remain in the shadows has implications for us all," Walker wrote. "If our 鈥榩riests of democracy鈥 are not allowed to shed light on challenging ideas, then democracy will die in darkness.
The ruling is at least a temporary setback to the powerful agenda to combat what he describes as the 鈥渨oke ideology鈥 of liberals and critical race theory, a way of thinking about America鈥檚 history through the lens of racism. DeSantis won a to a second term this month after a campaign that focused heavily on cultural issues.
The governor's office did not immediately respond Thursday to an emailed request for comment. The governor has often said rulings that halt his legislative priorities are likely to be reversed by appeals courts in Florida that are generally more conservative.
In his lengthy ruling, Walker quoted from George Orwell's dystopian novel 鈥1984,鈥 writing 鈥'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen,' and the powers in charge of Florida鈥檚 public university system have declared the State has unfettered authority to muzzle its professors in the name of 鈥榝reedom.'"
Judge Walker in August issued a on the law that blocked it from taking effect in businesses. The law is also subject to another legal challenge from a group of K-12 teachers and a student.
The governor began pushing for the law late last year and the Republican-controlled Legislature passed it during the 2022 legislative session.
鈥淲hat you see now with the rise of this woke ideology is an attempt to really delegitimize our history and to delegitimize our institutions and I view the wokeness as a form of cultural Marxism,鈥 DeSantis said when first floating the legislation. 鈥淭hey really want to tear at the fabric of our society.鈥
Critical race theory was developed during the 1970s and 1980s in response to what scholars viewed as a lack of racial progress following the civil rights legislation of the 1960s. It centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation鈥檚 institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people in society.
Conservatives have rejected critical race theory, arguing the philosophy racially divides American society and aims to rewrite history to make white people believe they are inherently racist.
