Florida State Sen. Alan Hays has triggered a firestorm of controversy by introducing a bill to require eighth- and 11th-graders watch conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza's documentary, "America: Imagine The World Without Her."
Breitbart reports that liberal media outlets in Florida have responded hyperbolically to the proposal by Hays, a Republican, that was filed in the state's Senate this month.
The Orlando Weekly called the film "conservative agitprop," warning that D’ Souza is "anti-Obama, anti-progressive [and] anti-liberal."
An Orlando Sentinel columnist wrote that the film illustrated that "if you could cash in on crazy, Florida would be the richest state in America."
But in an
interview with Newsmax TV this summer, Hays and D’Souza emphasized that they were only asking for balance in the classroom.
D’Souza pointed to the fact that Michael Moore’s "Fahrenheit 9/11 and Al Gore’s "An Inconvenient Truth" are "routinely shown in schools as an educational tool to illuminate people and foster debate."
He said many on the left oppose his movie because it challenges their negative political narrative about the United States.
It is not "as if young people today are not getting politics," D’Souza said. "They’re getting politics [from the perspective of the left], but the politics is just labeled as history."
D’Souza said he was initially uncomfortable with the mandatory nature of Hays’ bill, but "then I realized this is not college." In public schools, virtually the entire curriculum is mandatory, the filmmaker said.
Hays said he wanted Florida students to be able see "America" and draw their own conclusions.
"I've said from the very beginning, if someone else wants to show Moore's or Gore's films, then go ahead and show them. I am confident that the truth will win out," he said.
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