A former NFL safety who once supported Barack Obama but then became an ardent supporter of Donald Trump has threatened MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid with a lawsuit after she publicly chastised him for taking a group of young black boys from his after-school club to join Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis as he signed the Stop WOKE Act, which targets the inculcation of Critical Race Theory in schools.
Last Friday, former Minnesota Viking Jack Brewer took children from his Jack Brewer Foundation to DeSantis’ signing; the children held up signs opposing Critical Race Theory.
Reid retweeted a photo of three young back boys brandishing signs with CRT surrounded by a red circle and a line through it, captioning the photo, “This mis-use of Black boys is tantamount to child abuse. I would really like to hear the back-story on who these kids were and how they wound up at a DeSantis event. Given how anti-Black DeSantis is, using Black children this way is extra sick.”
This mis-use of Black boys is tantamount to child abuse. I would really like to hear the back-story on who these kids were and how they wound up at a DeSantis event. Given how anti-Black DeSantis is, using Black children this way is extra sick. https://t.co/FUyS5GDNMw
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) April 23, 2022
Brewer fired back, telling the The Washington Examiner that either Reid should apologize or he would sue her for defamation. He stated, “She has completely humiliated my kids and my program.”
“It’s just so hurtful, and she needs to be held accountable. She does it so often. And you know, her words and the way that she comes across to black America leaves a stain on all of us,” he said. “I won’t put up with it when it comes to my kids.”
“I’m a vocal advocate against CRT — anything that teaches kids anti-Christ rhetoric and teaches kids to hate and to see each other based on the color of their skin,” Brewer continued. “I have students in my program who have gone to school and been told that they can’t accomplish something because of the color of [their] skin.”
Jane Halbritter, whose two nephews were featured in the photo Reid retweeted, asserted that both boys, aged 9 and 14, were invited to the signing because they were participants in the American Heroes Program. She ripped Reid, telling the Examiner:
I mean, she’s painting these kids like they’re just little black boys that don’t know anything and could be exploited, like they don’t even have their own minds. … And I don’t see her doing it with white kids. … She doesn’t know the love we have for these kids, and to assume that we would send them into a situation that they were not equipped to deal with or understood in an age-appropriate fashion, that’s just so monumentally insulting, but it also put them at risk because now they’re this poster child for this and kind of at the center of the storm. It’s terrible. It’s really a sad thing.
HB 7, nicknamed the Stop Woke Act, specifies that subjecting a student to a required activity that promotes, advances, or compels individuals to believe discriminatory concepts, constitutes unlawful discrimination.
Ideas of unlawful discrimination include:
- That members of one race, color, national origin or sex are morally superior to members of another race, color, national origin or sex.
- A person by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.
- A person’s moral character or status as privileged or oppressed is determined by race, color, national origin or sex.
- A person, by virtue of their race, color, national origin or sex should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment to achieve diversity, equity or inclusion.
DeSantis stated, “No one should be instructed to feel as if they are not equal or shamed because of their race. In Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida.”