DeSantis Signs Bill Requiring High Schools to Observe ‘Victims of Communism Day’

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday that requires “Victims of Communism Day” to be observed annually in public high schools across the state.

The bill, known as HB 395, requires public schools to tell students about genocides, famines, and persecutions under communist regimes, including the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Soviet Union. The bill passed the Florida House and Senate unanimously earlier this year.

“We want to make sure that every year folks in Florida, but particularly our students, will learn about the evils of communism, the dictators that have led communist regimes, and the hundreds of millions of individuals who suffered and continue to suffer under the weight of this discredited ideology,” DeSantis said Monday morning.

The Victims of Communism organization has estimated that communist regimes have caused the deaths of at least 100 million people via political purges, religious persecutions, mass starvation, and other crimes against humanity during the 20th century. Chief among those regimes is the CCP, which is believed to have left around 80 million Chinese people dead.

“Over 100 years have passed since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and the formation of the first communist government under Vladimir Lenin, leading to decades of oppression and violence under communist regimes throughout the world,” the bill reads.

The bill also notes that “based on the economic philosophies of Karl Marx, communism has proven incompatible with the ideals of liberty, prosperity, and dignity of human life and has given rise to such infamous totalitarian dictators as Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot.”… (Excerpt from the Epoch Times)