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{"id":66260,"date":"2021-03-04T18:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T22:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/?p=66260"},"modified":"2021-03-04T17:42:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T21:42:45","slug":"legislation-would-educate-florida-students-about-the-pitfalls-of-communism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/legislation-would-educate-florida-students-about-the-pitfalls-of-communism\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislation Would Educate Florida Students About the Pitfalls of Communism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dozens of survivors of communist regimes were at the State Capitol Thursday, supporting a bill that would bring stories like theirs into the classroom.<\/p>\n

Supporters worry upcoming generations don\u2019t understand the history of America\u2019s founding principles and how they differ from communist ideology.<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For many Floridians, Communism is thought of as a relic of the Cold War, but for dozens of survivors of Communist regimes like Maximo Alvarez who brought their stories to the State Capitol, it\u2019s personal.<\/p>\n<p>“We have lost our families, brothers, some of us friends, mom and dads,\u201d said Alvarez, who escaped from Cuba at the age of 13.<\/p>\n<p>He and the other survivors are backing a bill that would require US Government classes to include a comparative discussion of political ideologies, like Communism, that conflict with the nation\u2019s founding principles.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-66260 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/dems-call-for-vaccine-investigation\/communism00000001\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000001-200x113.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000001-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000001-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000001.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/dems-call-for-vaccine-investigation\/communism\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism-200x113.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/dems-call-for-vaccine-investigation\/communism00000002\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000002-200x113.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000002-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000002-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000002.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>It would also direct the Department of Education to curate an oral history collection from those who have seen both forms of government in practice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need our children in Florida’s classrooms to realize that there are some places in the world where freedom is a luxury and liberty is just a dream,\u201d said House Speaker Chris Sprowls, who is backing the legislation.<\/p>\n<p>A survey by The Victims of Communism Foundation found one out of three millennials have a favorable view of communism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClearly the text book isn’t enough. The instruction in the classroom isn’t enough. What our children need to understand what happens with victims of communism, what happened in the Holocaust, is to hear it from survivors. From people who were there in their own voice, from their own experience,\u201d said Sprowls.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-66260 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/dems-call-for-vaccine-investigation\/communism00000003\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000003-200x113.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000003-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000003-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000003.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/dems-call-for-vaccine-investigation\/communism00000006\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000006-200x113.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000006-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000006-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000006.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/dems-call-for-vaccine-investigation\/communism00000005\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000005-200x113.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000005-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000005-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000005.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Alvarez worries without hearing it from those who lived through it, the same ideology that deprived his countrymen of their human rights and left others in graves, could take root here.<\/p>\n<p>He hopes this legislation will help ensure that never happens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a thriving business, but if I give everything that I have today it wouldn’t be one percent of what I was given when I came to this country,\u201d said Alvarez.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery galleryid-66260 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/dems-call-for-vaccine-investigation\/communism00000008\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000008-200x113.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000008-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000008-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000008.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/dems-call-for-vaccine-investigation\/communism00000010\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000010-200x113.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000010-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000010-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000010.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/2021\/03\/04\/dems-call-for-vaccine-investigation\/communism00000009\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000009-200x113.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000009-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000009-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/communism00000009.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>The bill sailed through its first committee with unanimous bi-partisan support.<\/p>\n<p>A separate bill has been filed that would establish Victims of Communism Day as an official state holiday to commemorate the 100 million victims killed under communist regimes.<\/p>\n<p>The holiday would be observed on November 7th, the anniversary of the first day of the Communist regime in Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dozens of survivors of communist regimes were at the State Capitol Thursday, supporting a bill that would bring stories like theirs into the classroom. Supporters worry upcoming generations don\u2019t understand the history of America\u2019s founding principles and how they differ from communist ideology. For many Floridians, Communism is thought of as a relic of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66260"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66261,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66260\/revisions\/66261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flanews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}