Gov. Ron DeSantis nixed funding for the Black History Month Celebration in Orlando, including for the 1619Fest Orlando and Rebel Run 5K.
The Legislature had set aside $200,000 for the event from general revenue sources.
Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, lobbied successfully in the Legislature for the funding. But it fell to the veto pen along with millions in other cultural grants and spending.
The Equity Council had requested the dollars, and argued in a state application the funding would satisfy requirements in state law to educate about Black history.
“1619Fest encouraged and organizes activities during Black History Month and throughout the year to expand understanding and appreciation of 400 years of African American History,” reads a request.
The organization, though, also bore a name derived from The 1619 Project, an education endeavor by The New York Times to critically examine America’s history and its ties to slavery. The effort sparked criticism from the Right, and was specifically cited when Florida lawmakers — at DeSantis’ urging — banned teaching critical race theory in state schools.
It’s not the only funding tied to Black History that DeSantis nixed.
He also killed $200,000 set aside for animatronic figures at the Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Cultural Complex in Mims.
Rep. Tyler Sirois, a Merritt Island Republican, had sought that funding in the budget. The center is named for Florida civil rights martyrs from the community, and the application from the cultural complex said the figures would “educate guests on the history of this heroic couple’s remarkable accomplishments, prominent civil rights leadership and ultimately their deaths in 1951, which was the beginning of the modern civil rights movement.”
The Moores, local NAACP leaders, were killed when Ku Klux Klan members bombed their home.
DeSantis also axed $200,000 set for promoting Florida’s Black Music Legacy.
But he didn’t just nix funding tied to Black cultural grants. In fact, he vetoed $825,000 set aside for the Penny Lane Beatles Museum in his hometown of Dunedin.
The Governor also eliminated $500,000 for a digital concert hall for The Florida Orchestra and $75,000 for the Historic Homestead Town Hall Museum.
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