DeSantis board eliminates Walt Disney World’s diversity initiatives and jobs

Keeping in lockstep with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ongoing crusade against Blacks and other minorities, Walt Disney World’s governing district has abolished its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and related initiatives.

The district, now under the control of DeSantis appointees, also eliminated jobs associated with those duties. The decision includes past initiatives that aimed to achieve racial and gender parity through contract awards.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District announced the elimination of these programs in a statement, citing the belief that such initiatives were “illegal and simply un-American.”

“Our district will no longer participate in any attempt to divide us by race or advance the notion that we are not created equal,” declared the district’s new administrator, Glenton Gilzean, an African American conservative supporter of DeSantis.

“As the former head of the Central Florida Urban League, a civil rights organization, I can say definitively that our community thrives only when we work together despite our differences,” he insisted.

DeSantis has been at the forefront of curtailing diversity programs in higher education and other institutions. Last spring, he signed a law prohibiting public colleges from using federal or state funding on diversity initiatives. Additionally, he championed Florida’s “Stop WOKE” law, which restricts businesses, colleges, and K–12 schools from providing training on certain racial concepts.

A federal judge previously blocked the enforcement of that law, deeming it “positively dystopian.”

DeSantis recently ignited more race-baiting controversy when his state education board banned books that taught American history, including the inhumanity of slavery.

The governor incredulously claimed that African American slaves benefited from being enslaved. He later doubled down on those remarks.

Meanwhile, the district, formerly the Reedy Creek Improvement District, played a crucial role in Disney’s decision to establish a theme park resort in the 1960s.

Disney could oversee zoning, fire protection, utilities, and infrastructure services on its extensive property by having a separate government entity.

For over five decades, the district was under the control of Disney supporters until DeSantis appointed new supervisors earlier this year following a contentious dispute between the company and the governor.

The conflict was sparked when Disney publicly opposed a state law that banned classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades.

DeSantis responded to Disney’s opposition by taking over the district through legislation and appointing a new board of supervisors to oversee the municipal services of the theme parks and hotels.

In response, Disney sued DeSantis and his appointees, claiming the governor violated the company’s free speech rights through retaliatory action.

The DeSantis-appointed members of the governing district have also filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate previous agreements between Disney and the last board oversight members who were Disney supporters.

Stacy M. Brown is the NNPA Newswire senior national correspondent.