Editor, The Beacon:

As I noted in a previous letter, lying is virtually a requirement for some politicians. But it is time to repeal DeSantis’ mandate that Florida teachers lie to their students.

Trying to top Trump’s lies, DeSantis signed the Stop WOKE Act requiring teachers to lie to their students or be fired. The act requires teaching that slavery taught enslaved people skills that benefited them. That blatant lie turns the truth on its head.

The African people we enslaved were not savages in loincloths. They were farmers, herders, blacksmiths, woodworkers, stonemasons, shoemakers, tanners, spinners, weavers, educators, administrators and health care workers.

Wealthy plantation owners didn’t have most of these skills. The people they enslaved had them. Google “slave sale posters.” They include a list of skills for the enslaved people they’re selling. Slavers didn’t purchase people, then teach them skills. They bought people because of their skills.

Slavers did not teach enslaved people useful skills. They actually banned enslaved people from learning the most important employment skill of that era — literacy. Enslaved people were banned from learning to read and write.

DeSantis hasn’t gone that far, but he allows his supporters to ban books they disagree with. Lies are what autocrats and wannabes do. I understand that. But teachers should not be required to lie to students to keep their jobs. This is a disgrace.

Sam Sloss

DeLand