- Ron DeSantis spent a yr at a non-public faculty in Georgia instructing historical past and authorities, per The New York Times.
- A former pupil stated DeSantis would “play satan’s advocate” over controversial topics just like the Civil Battle.
- The scholar additionally stated DeSantis was “imply” and “hostile” to her as a result of she was Black.
Earlier than Ron DeSantis was Florida’s governor, he spent a yr as a trainer and coach at a prestigious non-public faculty in Georgia, the place one former pupil stated he was hostile to her due to her race, in response to a New York Times report.
As a 23-year-old graduate from Yale College, DeSantis was described as cocky however well-liked amongst college students when he taught at Darlington College in the course of the 2001-2002 faculty yr, in response to the Instances.
Whereas instructing historical past and authorities, DeSantis preferred to debate controversial topics, together with the Civil Battle, former Darlington pupil and 2003 graduate Danielle Pompey recalled to the Instances.
“Like in historical past class, he was making an attempt to play satan’s advocate that the South had good cause to combat that struggle, to kill different folks, over proudly owning folks — Black folks,” Pompey advised the Instances. “He was making an attempt to say, ‘It isn’t OK to personal folks, however they’d property, companies.'”
Pompey, who’s Black and attended Darlington on a scholarship, stated she felt that DeSantis handled her in a different way due to her race, the Instances reported.
“Mr. Ron, Mr. DeSantis, was imply to me and hostile towards me,” Pompey advised the Instances. “Not aggressively, however passively, as a result of I used to be Black.”
Pompey advised the Instances that she initially thought she and DeSantis would have one thing in frequent since they had been each from out of state – Pompey from New York and DeSantis from Florida (although he went to Darlington after attending Yale in Connecticut).
“He had alternative to counterpoint folks, to come back there from the Northeast and present folks within the South that we will mix,” Pompey advised the Instances. “It appeared like he did not wish to do this.
One other former pupil in the identical class, Gates Minis, stated she recalled DeSantis’s debates concerning the Civil Battle and thought, in some instances, that he was factually incorrect, the Instances reported. In a single occasion, Minis stated DeSantis claimed each metropolis within the South burned in the course of the struggle, and Minis corrected him that her hometown, Savannah, was not burnt down.
A 3rd pupil, who spoke to the Instances on the situation of anonymity for concern of repercussions at his job, stated DeSantis’s antics concerning the Civil Battle had been so well-known amongst college students that they made a video mocking him over it.
Within the video seen by the Instances, a pupil pretending to be DeSantis stated, “The Civil Battle was not about slavery! It was about two competing financial techniques. One was within the North…” whereas one other pupil fell asleep within the class. The scholar who helped make the video advised the Instances they didn’t have precise footage of DeSantis making these claims.
A spokesperson for DeSantis didn’t instantly reply to Insider’s request for remark.
