Imagine the following scenario: You’re teaching Introduction to Sociology at a community college in Florida, and today, you’re trying to explain the well-documented pay gap between men and women in the United States. You check the guidance you just received from your dean, who received instructions via email from the executive vice chancellor of the Florida College System. The instructions state explicitly that explaining “unequal outcomes between men and women” in terms of “institutional sexism” would violate state law.
So how are you supposed to explain this disparity? The email includes guidance on just this question:
biological sex chromosomes determine … how females and males behave … So, in teaching this, one might point out that women and men with the same credentials enter different jobs such that certain jobs are occupied primarily by women (i.e., female-dominant) some are occupied primarily by men (i.e., male-dominant).
Did you misread the guidance? Your eyes scroll up on the page, which is a state-created curriculum for use in all non-elective Intro to Sociology classes taught in Florida’s community colleges. You are explicitly prohibited from discussing “systemic racism, institutional racism, [or] historical discrimination.” You cannot “state an intent of institutions today to oppress persons of color.” You cannot “describe when, how, or why individuals determine their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.”
Surely this is a mistake?
Hellbound and Down 