In the grand tradition of broken clocks, Scott is occasionally right. Representative Byron Donalds of Florida joined Scott and other Black Republicans to criticize that ahistorical benchmark made possible by Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who also wants to be president.

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But after Donalds, who otherwise praised the new standard, said teaching the personal benefits of slavery is wrong and needs to be adjusted, Team DeSantis pounced. Manny Diaz Jr., Floridas education commissioner, tweeted, We will not back down from teaching our nations true history at the behest of a woke White House, nor at the behest of a supposedly conservative congressman.

And there it is the blunt reminder to Black Republicans that their loyalties to the party and their conservatism will always be considered suspect.

Now dont give Scott, Donalds, or other Black Republicans too much credit for challenging DeSantis this one time. Its largely self-serving. With the Florida governors campaign not just on the ropes but in danger of tumbling out of the ring altogether, Scott may see an opportunity to rise as DeSantis falls. Like most other Black Republicans, Scott has stayed silent through Republican-led efforts in Florida and other states to ban dozens of books by Black authors and contour history for white comfort.

Also take note of the hypocrisy. Despite Donald Trumps years of racism and promotion of white supremacy, high-profile Black Republicans continue to support him. Or, in Scotts case, even defend the former presidents most odious actions, though hes competing against him for the Republican nomination.

To protect their political necks, Black Republicans stay in lockstep with the increasingly alarming rhetoric of their partys twice-impeached, thrice-indicted standard bearer. They know that those who dont are summarily dissed and dismissed.

Thats what happened to Will Hurd, a Black former congressman from Texas. At last weekends Lincoln Dinner, a gathering for GOP presidential candidates in Iowa, he was vigorously booed for criticizing the former president.

Donald Trump is not running for president to make America great again, Hurd said. Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison. Like an opening act no one wanted to see singing a song no one wanted to hear, he struggled to be heard over the jeers.

Polling so low that hes unlikely to qualify for the first Republican presidential debate on Aug. 23, Hurd has already said he will not pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee already presumed to be Trump. That will also keep him off of the debate stage.

For the past seven years, being a Republican has meant total public fidelity to Trump. That edict has persisted through a Trump-incited insurrection, his attempts to overturn a presidential election he soundly lost, and an ongoing series of legal problems resulting in dozens of charges and at least two upcoming trials. Any Republican expecting to hold onto their own voters isnt going to risk bucking Trump now especially with him trouncing his rivals in recent polls.

In a tweet, Jeremy Redfern, DeSantiss press secretary, accused Donalds of swinging for liberal media fences by criticizing the Florida governor. Both he and other members of DeSantiss team have compared Donalds to Vice President Kamala Harris, whos been lambasting that states school curriculum. Evoking liberalism and the nations most prominent Black Democrat is just another way of marking Donalds as standing apart from white Republicans.

It reminds me of an old expression: Even a tick thinks that he is royal when he drinks the emperors blood. No, I am not calling Black Republicans bloodsuckers. But they know that soft-pedaling slavery is an old racist tactic and have still chosen adjacency to white supremacy for, at best, very conditional power.

Now theyre learning just how conditional it is and how quickly their allegiance is attacked because acceptance from todays GOP demands nothing less than total capitulation to an extremist and fascist ideology.

Rene Graham is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at renee.graham@globe.com. Follow her @reneeygraham.

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Black Republicans slam slavery revamp, but mum on white supremacy - The Boston Globe