The Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Owls made an improbable run to the Final Four of the March Madness tournament, and only lost by one point, 72-71, to San Diego State University Aztecs in their semifinal matchup. The Owls were this tournament’s biggest surprise, and their Cinderella story will undoubtedly be viewed as one for the ages.
However, race-baiting kinda-sports site Andscape hijacked this incredible story to make the Owls’ tournament run about racism (because fish gotta swim).
Before the Owls’ tilt with the Aztecs, Andscape author William C. Rhoden used FAU’s run to awkwardly pivot to a house bill that the Florida state legislature has introduced. HB 999 would make it illegal for college-level institutions to provide students the chance to study “any major or minor in Critical Race Theory, Gender Studies, or Intersectionality, or any derivative major or minor of these belief systems.”
Rhoden spoke with many students who believed that this bill would be detrimental for the future of FAU.
“Who is diversity negatively impacting? Who does it hurt? What is the fear of being inclusive?” FAU sophomore Trevian Briskey said when speaking with a board of faculty senate to fight against HB 999. “I urge you guys as faculty to stand up against this, stand up with your students.”
The rest of the article dives head first into the (remarkably shallow) racism deep-end, with all the quoted sources going on and on about how this new piece of legislation would “undermine the diversity that Florida Atlantic’s high-profile basketball team represent.”
Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
If passed, this bill would prevent certain ideologies from being taught. It would not limit opportunities for black or other minority students to succeed.
Therefore, Rhoden should not have hijacked one of the best March Madness stories and jumped the gun on a bill that hasn’t even been passed yet. But then again, that’s too much to expect of a website that does stuff like this for a living.
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— MRCTV (@mrctv) April 2, 2023