ORLANDO, Fla. — On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris, challenging her to visit Tallahassee to debate the state's updated Black history curriculum.

On Tuesday, while speaking at the 20th Quadrennial Session of the Women's Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Orlando, Harris, without mentioning the governor's name, responded.

"Well I'm here in Florida, and I will tell you there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact: There were no redeeming qualities of slavery," she said. "We will not stop calling out and fighting back against extremist so-called leaders who try to prevent our children from learning our true and full history."

Harris was referring to changes made to the state's Black history curriculum recently by the Florida Board of Education. On July 19, the Board approved a plan to bring the state's Black history curriculum in line with legislation signed into law by DeSantis.

Among some of the contentious items in the new curriculum is the requirement for students to be instructed that enslaved people benefited from the skills they learned while in bondage.

Harris attacks "extremists"

Harris started Tuesday's speech by going after people across the country — mainly lawmakers — who she only referred to as "extremists."

"In this moment, across our country, hard-fought, hard-won freedoms are under full-on attack," she said. "Just consider, in states across our nation, extremists attack the freedom to vote. They pass laws to ban drop boxes, to limit early voting, to make it illegal to offer food and water to people who are standing in line for hours to simply cast their ballot."

She went on to attack moves to restrict abortion: "In states across our nation, extremists pass laws that criminalize doctors and take away the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body."

"And we are all clear," she continued. "One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body. Let her make that decision with her pastor or her priest or her rabbi, but not her government telling her what to do."

Going on to address laws that "attack our friends and neighbors because of who they are and who they love," Harris criticized "these same extremists" who "refuse to pass reasonable gun safety laws to keep our children and places of worship safe."

At that point, Harris addressed politics in Florida specifically for the first time, saying some in the state were trying to "erase and even rewrite the ugly parts of our history."

"Right here in Florida," she said. "Right here in Florida, they plan to teach students that enslaved people benefited from slavery. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, in an attempt to divide and distract our nation with unnecessary debates."

The new Florida curriculum also addresses the Ocoee Massacre of 1920, when a white mob attacked Black residents over attempts to vote. The policy requires teachers to tell students that acts of violence during the incident were "perpetuated against and by African Americans."

DeSantis sends invitation

In his Monday letter, DeSantis decried Harris' characterization of the state's Black history curriculum and invited her to visit Florida to "discuss our African American History standards."

"In Florida we are unafraid to have an open and honest dialogue about the issues. And you clearly have no trouble ducking down to Florida on short notice," DeSantis wrote, likely referring Harris' trip to Jacksonville, which happened shortly after the Florida Board of Education's curriculum changes.

While applauding Florida's top ranking in the country for education and recent bans on critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, DeSantis accused his opponents of maligning "our state and its residents."

DeSantis described the state's curriculum as "nation-leading standalone African American History standards" and said that even though Florida rejected a College Board Advanced Placement course on African American history, it is "one of the only states in the nation to require this level of learning about such an important subject."

"One would think the White House would applaud such boldness in teaching the unique and important story of African American History," he continued in the letter. "But you have instead attempted to score cheap political points and label Florida parents 'extremists.'"

In rejecting DeSantis' offer, Harris said she would continue to work to make sure American students were taught an unvarnished version of the country's history..

DeSantis did not immediately respond to Harris' remarks in Orlando Tuesday.

Tuesday's appearance in Orlando was Harris' second trip to the state in two weeks — the first was on July 21 in Jacksonville where she also spoke out against recent changes to the way African American history is taught in Florida.