{"id":1905260,"date":"2023-03-27T05:26:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T09:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-hating-sports-writer-tries-to-ruin-baseball-with-identity-politics\/"},"modified":"2023-03-27T05:27:15","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T09:27:15","slug":"desantis-hating-sports-writer-tries-to-ruin-baseball-with-identity-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-hating-sports-writer-tries-to-ruin-baseball-with-identity-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis-Hating Sports Writer Tries To Ruin Baseball With Identity Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdesantis-hating-sports-writer-tries-to-ruin-baseball-with-identity-politics%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1905260&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>In a predominantly left-wing sports media industry that thrives on controversial hot takes, it should come as no surprise to see Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis as the target of Washington Post columnist and ESPN personality Kevin Blackistone.<\/p>\n<p>In his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/sports\/2023\/03\/05\/ron-desantis-mlb-spring-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent column<\/a>, Blackistone argues that the 15 teams making up the Grapefruit League, a spring training club in Florida, should leave the state as long as DeSantis is governor and move to the politically obedient Arizona. His arguments diverted from the facts and leaned on the political talking points frequently used to attack DeSantis.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1226576773\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1eb65c0d1a87c2f2e11a0fc63befd7c9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1eb65c0d1a87c2f2e11a0fc63befd7c9\"><\/div>\n<p>The column begins by referencing Florida\u2019s history of racial challenges, including Jim Crow laws, around the time Cleveland\u2019s baseball team moved the organization\u2019s spring training operations to Arizona in 1947.<\/p>\n<p>Blackistone\u2019s column ignores Cleveland\u2019s nickname at the time \u2014 the Indians \u2014 despite including nicknames for the Nationals, Brooklyn Dodgers, and every single other team he mentions.<\/p>\n<p>He cites Florida as having three of the deadliest counties in the South in per capita lynchings at the time Cleveland made the move. Fortunately, Florida has rectified that type of crime against black players, players of any race, or even regular citizens. Under the leadership of DeSantis, Florida is experiencing a 50-year record-low crime rate.<\/p>\n<p>Next, Blackistone criticizes DeSantis for taking issue with an Advanced Placement course in African American studies, which he called \u201cindoctrination.\u201d<\/p>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-560d0a95c988c913e46dd41ed657afc1 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-560d0a95c988c913e46dd41ed657afc1\"><\/div>\n<p>But for anyone who cares to understand the issue beyond a headline or quick soundbite, DeSantis does not object to these courses being taught in principle. He takes issue with political propaganda being fed to students under the guise of historical facts. Teaching students that African Americans have wanted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/ron-desantis-ap-african-american-history-florida-press-conference-today-2023-01-23\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">eliminate jails and prisons<\/a> is not historical or factual. As the governor stated, this is an attempt to \u201cuse black history to shoehorn\u201d political ideologies into the curriculum.<\/p>\n<p>Blackistone takes exception to DeSantis\u2019 proposed ban on state funding for colleges that embrace critical race theory or racially divisive \u201cdiversity, equity, and inclusion\u201d programs.<\/p>\n<p>He claims CRT has been \u201cpurposefully disfigured by DeSantis, an Ivy Leaguer, and others of his reactionary ilk into a boogeyman for white citizens who believe they are losing this country that wasn\u2019t theirs in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis and the Florida legislature have prioritized ensuring that the state\u2019s students are not taught to hate one another or fed divisive political rhetoric meant to indoctrinate students. Florida is placing a priority on preventing children from feeling shame over immutable traits such as race because of events that happened generations ago.<\/p>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e21be763855be7f65240a0b93f57d24c fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e21be763855be7f65240a0b93f57d24c\"><\/div>\n<p>A bill passed by the Florida legislature and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wptv.com\/news\/education\/floridas-governor-to-sign-critical-race-theory-education-bill-into-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed into law in 2022<\/a> that bans teaching critical race theory also prevents the teaching that \u201cone race, color, national origin, or sex are morally superior to members of another race, color, national origin, or sex\u201d and that \u201ca person, by virtue of his or her race, color, national origin, or sex is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.\u201d Nothing about that is controversial to the majority of Americans, yet it is grounds for relocating the Grapefruit League\u2019s spring training, according to Blackistone.<\/p>\n<p>Blackistone repeats the false talking point that DeSantis is seeking to ban books in Florida. As evidence, he cites three books that were considered \u201cunder review\u201d in Florida: \u201cHenry Aaron\u2019s Dream,\u201d \u201cRoberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates,\u201d and \u201cThank You, Jackie Robinson.\u201d Obviously, nobody believes these books should be removed from schools. <\/p>\n<p>But what Blackistone fails to acknowledge is that the very same NBC article he cites also notes that a whopping 1.5 million books were included for possible review \u2014 a better-safe-than-sorry approach.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody believes that the people of Florida \u2014 including DeSantis, who was captain of the Yale baseball team \u2014 think those books are inappropriate.<\/p>\n<p>Blackistone fails to discuss what precipitated the need to review materials in Florida schools. Last week, the governor\u2019s office <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tarynfenske\/status\/1633499837659516928\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">released a video<\/a> showing some of the inappropriate and, in some cases, pornographic materials that had been discovered in Florida schools.<\/p>\n<p>The article also points to teams moving west in the 1950s to find \u201cmore hospitable settings\u201d for their nonwhite players. Major League Baseball has by far the highest percentage of Hispanic and Latino players \u2014 nearly 30 percent of the league \u2014 of any major sport in America.<\/p>\n<p>There is perhaps no more hospitable setting in America for Hispanic or Latino players than Florida. The state is diverse, with its vibrant Hispanic culture and a population full of immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and other places whose people love baseball. <\/p>\n<p>And in case anyone was wondering what those communities thought of DeSantis, he just won nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/latino\/florida-latinos-turned-favor-republicans-rcna57167\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">60 percent of the Latino vote<\/a> and increased his share of that vote by double digits from when he was first elected governor in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Blackistone\u2019s final grievance is that at a time when baseball has begun celebrating \u201cPride month,\u201d the sport is \u201cdeeply rooted\u201d in Florida, which passed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/miami\/news\/desantis-defends-dont-say-gay-bill-warns-of-transgender-issues-injected-into-classroom-instruction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d bill<\/a>. While Blackistone acknowledges that the term is merely a nickname given to the bill by critics, he fails to show that the bill is aimed at prohibiting the sexual instruction of young children, grades pre-K through three.<\/p>\n<p>People from all walks of life, regardless of their race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation come to support their favorite sports teams. And all of those individuals are welcome in Florida and will have the freedom to achieve the American dream in the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n<p>I look at my 75-year-old father\u2019s sports heroes growing up, and many were black athletes like Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron. These icons of baseball may well be DeSantis\u2019 sports heroes as well. The governor knows as well as anyone the power of sports to unite Americans. And above all, he understands that sports transcend the identity politics that the media and a vocal minority on Twitter want us to believe must prevail in every aspect of our society.<\/p>\n<div  class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-174ba53d06e6939671ca1e7fc2a81a15 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-174ba53d06e6939671ca1e7fc2a81a15\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">   Evan Berryhill is a a lawyer and political strategist, and a former congressional communications staffer for Rep. David B. McKinley. He has written for The Daily Caller, The Hill, Washington Examiner, American Thinker, Charleston Gazette, and WV State Journal.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/around-the-horn\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Around the Horn<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/cleveland-indians\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Cleveland Indians<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/espn\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">ESPN<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/florida\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Florida<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/grapefruit-league\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Grapefruit League<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/hank-aaron\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Hank Aaron<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/kevin-blackistone\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Kevin Blackistone<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mlb\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">MLB<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/roberto-clemente\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Roberto Clemente<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ron-desantis\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ron DeSantis<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/the-washington-post\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">The Washington Post<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/willie-mays\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Willie Mays<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a predominantly left-wing sports media industry that thrives on controversial hot takes, it should come as no surprise to see Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis as the target of Washington Post columnist and ESPN personality Kevin Blackistone. In his recent column, Blackistone argues that the 15 teams making up the Grapefruit League, a spring<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":1905261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15360,22821,6280,5894,6279,3847,4718],"class_list":["post-1905260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-baseball","tag-desantis-hating","tag-identity","tag-politics","tag-ruin","tag-sports","tag-writer"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1905260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1905261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1905260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1905260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1905260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}