Editor’s Notes: What is past is prologue
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"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a socialist.
"Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a trade unionist.
"Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a Jew.
"Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me."
-- German pastor Martin Niemoller, 1946
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An interesting thing happened last week, when teachers in parts of the country that have generally been slow to recognize the evils lurking in Gov. Ron DeSantis's Florida were suddenly spurred to awareness. He and a certain band of lawmakers had already come for authors such as Maya Angelou and those teachers who understood it was their responsibility to teach ALL our country's history accurately. That garnered barely a grumble.
But this year, they came for William Shakespeare.
Though the decision has been widely reported, I'm writing after having read the report in The Tampa Bay Times, which says "some Florida school districts are shying away from Shakespeare, along with other classic and popular materials. They say they're attempting to comply with new state law restricting books with and instruction about sexual content."
According to the Times, Hillsborough County has told its teachers they cannot teach or assign the full text of Shakespeare plays such as "Romeo and Juliet."
Just three years ago, Florida's Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking standards, distributed by the state's Department of Education, included Shakespeare in its list for high school students -- and rightly so. How quickly this madness has taken hold. Now, districts are afraid to let their educators teach Shakespearean classics nearly all of us learned while we were in school.
Upon learning of the change, a West Virginia teacher took to social media to proclaim her thankfulness that she did not teach in Florida. I'm glad she's been provoked to anger about what is happening down there, but I have to admit it makes me sad it took Shakespeare to open her and many others' eyes to the sinister absurdity of it all.
Imagine being a teacher in a state where you KNOW those in positions of power want you to make sure your students learn less, and in fact hope you will help them drive the next generation back to the socio-cultural norms of a century or two ago. How do you keep doing your job, knowing new laws have had such a chilling effect on your school district that officials have decided to avoid Shakespeare?
The teacher I mentioned asked who is next: Judy Blume? Goodness, we can't keep teaching Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales!"
She's right, of course. And it bears reminding that Florida is not the only state in which officials hope to rob students of the education (literary and otherwise) generations of us have received in public schools. If Shakespeare is what it takes to make teachers and parents all over the country wake up and see the poison that is seeping into statehouses, so be it.
But it also bears reminding that DeSantis wants to be president of the United States. We all know there are plenty in Congress who would help him attempt the same ignorant insanity on a federal level.
"Nothing will come of nothing," Shakespeare wrote in "King Lear."
Nothing will change if those who are beginning to see what is being attempted in Florida and all over the country do not speak out against it.
Folks, this has gone too far already. It's time.
Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com