Florida’s Black lawmakers denounce attorney general’s opinion as damaging political stunt

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — An opinion by Florida’s Republican attorney general calling into question the constitutionality of dozens of state laws which support minority contracting and promote diverse appointments ignores that racial discrimination still exists and could harm the state’s Black residents, Democratic state lawmakers said Thursday.

Attorney General James Uthmeier released the opinion on Monday, when many U.S. residents were celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which honors the civil rights leader who fought to end racial segregation in the middle of the 20th century.

Uthmeier claimed in his opinion that around 80 Florida laws and programs which provide loans to Black businesses and set aside contracts for minority businesses, among other things, violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because “they mandate discrimination based on race.” He said he would no longer enforce or defend “discriminatory” provisions in those laws.

Members of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus denounced the opinion at a news conference on Thursday. They decried it as a political stunt that could end decades of bipartisan policies while ignoring Florida’s history of racial discrimination. Up until the 1960s, Florida subscribed to the legal system of racial segregation in schools and public accommodations known as Jim Crow.

“I know he doesn’t understand this, and I know he doesn’t have our lived experience, but I wish he would listen when we explain the reality of our lives and what people go through in our communities,” said state Rep. Fentrice Driskell, who is the Democratic leader in the GOP-controlled Florida House. “Civil rights laws are protections against discrimination, not preferences. This is about leveling the playing field, making sure that Floridians who look like us, and Floridians who look like the attorney general, have the same opportunities.”

Uthmeier, who is white, was named to his position last year by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis after then-state Attorney General Ashley Moody was appointed by the governor to a U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Marco Rubio when he became President Donald Trump’s secretary of state. Uthmeier, who previously was DeSantis’ chief of staff, is running for election this year.

If Uthmeier doesn’t enforce the laws that are on the books, DeSantis should remove him from office, as the governor has done to other elected officials who he claimed weren’t carrying out state laws, said state Sen. Mack Bernard.

“Democracy doesn’t survive by exclusion. It thrives when the institutions that govern us reflect the people they serve,” Bernard said. “This is not reform. It is a deliberate dismantling of the best practices and pursuit of political power, and it should alarm every Floridian, regardless of party affiliation.”

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