In the News: During Black History Month Kendall Qualls Raises Concern, “George Floyd Scholarship Sends Black Kids the Wrong Message”

MINNEAPOLIS – During Black History month, Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Kendall Qualls raises concern that a scholarship named after George Floyd “sends Black kids the wrong message.” In an opinion piece published by The Federalist, Qualls examines the many qualified Black individuals whose life accomplishments deserve to be eternally recognized.

Read Kendall’s piece in The Federalist here! 

“The constant push to virtue signal to the idol of social justice is causing some of our historically trusted institutions of academia, health care, and journalism to lose the public’s trust and is further splintering our nation. Minnesota seems to be in the epicenter of it all.

The Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota recently endowed a new scholarship to honor George Perry Floyd Jr. It’s the wrong decision and undermines the work of the civil rights movement and what we communicate to black American children across the country.

What happened to George Floyd was a travesty. But it is important we remain disciplined in acknowledging that tragedy. When honoring someone’s life in a scholarship at an institution of higher education, we should honor the sacrifice, achievement, and virtues of a person’s life.

With approximately 50 percent of black students graduating from Minneapolis public schools near the bottom of the country in achievement and approximately 80 percent of black children born in fatherless homes in the twin cities, the University of Minnesota should be lifting up models of character and achievement that convey hope and opportunity, not death and despair. …

… The zeal for political correctness and social justice should not cloud our better judgement.”