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Following the recent backlash over GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haleys failure to mention slavery during a Civil War question, lawmakers in Florida this week filed a bill taking aim at Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, who has visited and spoken out several times in Florida on issues of Black history and slavery.

The Republican legislation filed Wednesday in the Florida Senate (SB 1192) is described as: Kamala Harris Truth in Slavery Teaching Act.

The House bill (HB 1139) does not reference Vice President Harris. But both bills would require public-school instruction about African American history and which political parties supported slavery.

The new and proposed requirement references:

The history of African Americans, including the history of African peoples before the political conflicts that led to the development of slavery; the passage to America; the enslavement experience; a comprehensive account of the sociopolitical circumstances surrounding slavery, including which political parties supported slavery by adopting pro-slavery tenets to their party platform .

Given the language in the bill, those political parties would likely be considered Southern Democrats.

In the House, Republican Kiyan Michael filed the legislation. She represents part of Duval County, where a white man in his early 20s killed three Black people in August at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville.

In the Senate, Blaise Ingoglia filed the legislation. He represents Citrus, Hernando, and Sumter counties and part of Pasco. Ingoglia is a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

In July, Harris spoke out about new Black history standards in Florida, blasting what she called revisionist history. She told the crowd in Jacksonville that Black history revisions are part of a national right-wing agenda.

Adults know what slavery really involved. It involved rape; it involved torture; it involved taking a baby from their mother; it involved some of the worst examples of depriving people of humanity in our world; it involved subjecting people to think of themselves and be thought of as less than humans, Harris said at the time.

In August, Harris spoke in Orlando about Floridas black history standards, saying:

Right here in Florida they plan to teach students that enslaved people benefited from slavery, Harris said about halfway through her 18-minute speech. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us in an attempt to divide and distract our nation with unnecessary debates. And now, they attempt to legitimize these unnecessary debates, with a proposal that most recently came in, of a politically motivated roundtable. Well, Im here in Florida, and I will tell you, there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact. There were no redeeming qualities of slavery.

In September, Harris was in Miami part of a trip that focused on visits to historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions to get students motivated to go to the polls in 2024.

The GOP legislation sponsored by Michael and Ingoglia has already become controversial, with the Florida Legislature due to open its annual session on Tuesday.

Sen. Shevrin Jones of Miami-Dade released a statement on the legislation:

Yet again, MAGA Republicans in Tallahassee are shamelessly playing political games as a means to distract from their lack of action and plans to address the challenges facing everyday Floridians. It is disheartening, though unsurprising, to see them resort to aimless, desperate trolling of Vice President Harris tactics familiar to women and people of color in public life rather than focusing on the issues that are top of mind for the people they serve.

These same elected officials claim they want to keep political ideology out of the classroom, but then inject blatant partisanship into education every chance they get. Our schools dont need more politicians involved in decision-making or attacking educators who have dedicated their lives to serving our communities.

It would do both Senator Ingoglia and Representative Michael a world of good to research the party of Lincoln they claim to be part of AND the dramatic party realignment that has happened in this country in the last 150 years. They cannot have it both ways, claiming to be on the side of freedom and civil rights when they are walking a different walk and actively dismantling Floridians rights and freedoms.

As for presidential candidate Haley, she backtracked following her comments over slavery.

According to The Hill, What I should have said immediately was that the Civil War was about slavery, but I just assumed that that was a given, and I went on and said it was also about the role of government and about the rights of people economically, socially, and otherwise, Haley said in a Fox News interview Wednesday.

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FL GOP lawmakers take aim at Democrat VP Kamala Harris, who is focused on Black history, slavery - Florida Phoenix