MIAMI – April 13, Free CRF – a coalition of professors, professors and students at Florida International University – staged a strike in protest House Bill 999 and its counterpart Senate Bill 266, both of whom are advancing in Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature. FIU is the largest public university in Miami-Dade County, with more than 50,000 students. The new law seeks to ban programs that teach the view that “systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequalities. “. This could impact certain academic disciplines at each state college, including queer studies and critical race theory, potentially affecting or eliminating certain majors and minors altogether.
Lilian Dickson, an art history student, was one of 400 students who left class that day. “I would like people to know that art plays a vital role in mobilizing individuals,” Dickson said. Hyperallergic. The demonstration coincided with other colleges and high school walkouts in the state. Dickson, who helped organize the strike at CRF’s Modesto A. Maidique campus, wanted to advocate for others to have the freedom to choose what they learn and the groups they join.
“The course I just completed is called Art and politics, so we talked about movements at all levels, not just to one side or the other. We talked about fascism and we also talked about left-wing politics and how art is affected by all forms of politics,” Dickson continued. “I was sitting in that class thinking, ‘This is an important program, but not something that could be offered under the proposed new legislation. “”
Alejandro González, an undergraduate arts student at FIU, said the political climate was becoming increasingly tense on campus. “Things have changed. There’s a feeling of fatigue and stress. As far as I know, teachers need to have their ‘awakening’ programs revised,” he said. of wanting to watch your back as an art student, almost as if you didn’t want to do anything ‘too wide awake.’ There’s a lot of anxiety these days. »
The FIU has not yet responded to Hyperallergic‘s survey aimed at clarifying the expectations of teachers around the new legislative proposals. Florida House Bill 999Which one is still under review, bans entire fields of study, including race and gender studies, and spending on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in universities. The bill also makes it possible to review the tenure of professors at any time. Senate Bill 266, which contains provisions similar to HB 999, addresses some of the most contentious education-related issues of this year’s legislative session, including making changes related to university programs and courses that can be offered in universities and colleges.
González, who is from Venezuela, said he thinks the United States will be more accepting of LGBTQ+ people. But he was wrong. “Earlier in the semester, we had an incident with a neo-Nazi group setting up a table on campus, and of course it’s free speech, so everything is legal. Or we will have religious groups with megaphones saying that homosexuals are an abomination,” he said. Hyperallergic. “Things like that happen every semester.”
Such a tense political climate could give the mistaken impression that everyone in Florida is silent and complicit, that the state is the “wild west” and that no one is doing anything to challenge the legislation. But the students continue to act.
“I’ve met so many people who say, ‘Florida is terrible now, let’s just get out of Florida,’ instead of staying in Florida and fighting for those freedoms,” Rachel Gordon said.. A video artist and Florida native who is finishing his BFA at FIU with a major in animation, Gordon is a member of the Pride Student Union and vice president of the Geek Culture Club. Last week, Pride Club members had a sit-in with the CRF board, wanting to know which side they were on and whether the group would be banned or removed in the future. Gordon says she’s now even more driven as an artist to make her work mean something.
On Friday, April 21, Gordon and González mounted a one-day exhibition titled Special collections at the Glenn Hubert Library as a project for a video installation course they took together. González installed a 22-channel installation inside the computer room titled “Athenaeum fever.” The article was a response to the “Don’t Say Gay” and “Stop WOKE” policies and book bans, serving as a metaphor for the damage these policies cause by presenting them as a virus compromising the integrity of the library as a that space. of knowledge and expansion of the mind.
The students got permission from the staff based on the proposals they sent in earlier in the semester. Gordon, who has previously participated in the walkout, presented a video installation of an interrogation scene played on a loop in the study room. Peers who heard the video entered the room to watch the play, which was recorded on a 360-degree Go-Pro camera and emulated surveillance. Title The suspectsthe video “satirates the idea of government control over education”, Gordon explained.
Students who entered the library and viewed the work that day seemed unfazed, according to González, who believes bills targeting marginalized groups won’t pay off in the long run.
“I doubt most of my generation, and perhaps millennials, will ever forgive or forget these measures,” he said.
