ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 An opinion by Florida\u2019s Republican attorney general calling into question the constitutionality of dozens of state laws which support minority contracting and promote diverse appointments ignores that racial discrimination still exists and could harm the state\u2019s Black residents, Democratic state lawmakers said Thursday.<\/p>\n
Attorney General James Uthmeier released the opinion on Monday, when many U.S. residents were celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which honors the civil rights leader who fought to end racial segregation in the middle of the 20th century. <\/p>\n
Uthmeier claimed in his opinion that around 80 Florida laws and programs which provide loans to Black businesses and set aside contracts for minority businesses, among other things, violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because \u201cthey mandate discrimination based on race.\u201d He said he would no longer enforce or defend \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d provisions in those laws.<\/p>\n
Members of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus denounced the opinion at a news conference on Thursday. They decried it as a political stunt that could end decades of bipartisan policies while ignoring Florida\u2019s history of racial discrimination. Up until the 1960s, Florida subscribed to the legal system of racial segregation in schools and public accommodations known as Jim Crow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know he doesn\u2019t understand this, and I know he doesn\u2019t have our lived experience, but I wish he would listen when we explain the reality of our lives and what people go through in our communities,\u201d said state Rep. Fentrice Driskell, who is the Democratic leader in the GOP-controlled Florida House. \u201cCivil rights laws are protections against discrimination, not preferences. This is about leveling the playing field, making sure that Floridians who look like us, and Floridians who look like the attorney general, have the same opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uthmeier, who is white, was named to his 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\u2019s secretary of state. Uthmeier, who previously was DeSantis\u2019 chief of staff, is running for election this year.<\/p>\n
If Uthmeier doesn\u2019t enforce the laws that are on the books, DeSantis should remove him from office, as the governor has done to other elected officials who he claimed weren\u2019t carrying out state laws, said state Sen. Mack Bernard.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemocracy doesn\u2019t survive by exclusion. It thrives when the institutions that govern us reflect the people they serve,\u201d Bernard said. \u201cThis is not reform. It is a deliberate dismantling of the best practices and pursuit of political power, and it should alarm every Floridian, regardless of party affiliation.\u201d<\/p>\n
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