ORLANDO, FLORIDA– An opinion by Florida’s Republican attorney general calling into question the constitutionality of dozens of state laws that support minority contracting and encourage diverse hiring ignores that racial discrimination still exists and could harm the state’s black residents, Democratic state lawmakers said Thursday.
Attorney General James Othmeyer issued the opinion on Monday, while many US residents were observing the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which honors the civil rights leader who fought to end segregation in the mid-20th century.
Othmeier claimed in his opinion that about 80 laws and programs in Florida that provide loans to black businesses and set aside contracts for minority businesses, among other things, violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because they “enforce discrimination on the basis of race.” He said he would no longer enforce or defend the “discriminatory” provisions in those laws.
Members of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus denounced that view at a press conference on Thursday. They denounced it as a political ploy that could end decades of partisan politics while ignoring Florida’s history of racial discrimination. Until the 1960s, Florida subscribed to the legal system of racial segregation in schools and public places known as Jim Crow.
“I know he doesn’t understand this, and I know he doesn’t have our life experience, but I hope he listens when we explain the reality of our lives and what people in our communities are going through,” said state Rep. Fentress Driskel, the Democratic leader in the GOP-controlled Florida Assembly. “Civil rights laws are protections against discrimination, not preferences. This is about equal opportunity, making sure that Floridians who look like us, and Floridians who look like our attorney general, have the same opportunities.”
Othmeyer, who is white, was appointed to the 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 was previously DeSantis’ chief of staff, is running for reelection this year.
State Sen. Mac Bernard said if Othmeyer doesn’t enforce the laws on the books, DeSantis should remove him from office, as the governor has done with other elected officials he claimed aren’t enforcing state laws.
“Democracy does not survive by exclusion,” Bernard said. “It thrives when the institutions that govern us reflect the people they serve.” “This is not reform. It is a deliberate dismantling of best practices and the pursuit of political power, and it should concern every Floridian, regardless of party affiliation.”
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