How an Enslaved Blacksmith Had to Enslave His Own Family to Win Their Freedom

Most historians were appalled when the Florida Board of Education adopted new standards for the state’s African American History curriculum, including instruction on “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, thought it was just fine. “They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,” the Republican presidential candidate explained.

As New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie pointed out, enslaved Americans were treated as chattel, always subjected to enforced labor, beatings, sexual abuse, and family separation. Whatever skills a “fortunate few” managed to acquire were heartlessly exploited for the benefit of the enslavers.

Read more at The Daily Beast.