Lawmakers in eight states have introduced legislation that may make it harder for teachers to talk about racism, sexism, and bias in the classroom.
Over the past few months, Republican legislators in Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and West Virginia have drafted bills that would ban the teaching of what they deem 鈥渄ivisive鈥� or 鈥渞acist and sexist鈥� concepts. The bills use similar language as an executive order former President Donald Trump put in place to ban diversity trainings for federal workers.
Some of these new bills also aim to put restrictions on workplaces or state contractors. All of the legislation uses similar phrasing in listing topics that would be off-limits to teach, including:
- That one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex;
- That the U.S. or specific states are fundamentally racist or sexist;
- That individuals, because of their race or sex, are inherently oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;
- That individuals bear responsibility for actions committed in the past by members of their same race or sex;
- That anyone should feel 鈥渄iscomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress鈥� because of their race or sex.
The language outlining 鈥渄ivisive concepts鈥� in the proposed legislation copies sections of Trump鈥檚 executive order from September of last year, which banned federal trainings designed to confront racism, sexism, and bias. President Joe Biden has since rescinded that order.
Several of these bills have stalled or died in committee鈥攊n New Hampshire, where the legislation has been tabled, the state鈥檚 American Civil Liberties Union chapter . In other states, though, the proposals are moving through the legislature.
In Idaho, the issue has derailed budget negotiations. House Republicans refused to fund the teacher salaries budget unless a provision was added prohibiting schools from advocating for social justice education, citing inaction on a separate 鈥渞acist and sexist concepts鈥� bill, .
The Iowa bill passed the state Senate in March, and has already paused state efforts to discuss race in schools. The Iowa Department of 91制片厂视频 recently postponed a conference on social justice and equity in education, originally scheduled for April, in response to the bill, .
鈥淲e are mindful of pending legislation that may impact the delivery and content of certain topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion and postponing the conference will ensure the Department and Iowa鈥檚 educators are best positioned to comply with any legislation,鈥� . The statement notes that the department will plan to hold a conference in the fall.
These bills come at the same time some states have taken other steps to limit the ways in which racism, sexism, and inequity are discussed in schools. In North Carolina, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, has formed a task force dedicated to 鈥渆xposing indoctrination in the classroom,鈥� asking parents to report lessons. Idaho鈥檚 lieutenant governor, Janice McGeachin, also a Republican, recently announced that she would form a similar task force.
And earlier this year, lawmakers in several states pushed to ban schools from teaching curriculum designed around the 1619 Project, a New York Times series that aims to reframe United States history by putting the legacy of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at its center.
鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e in a moment where terms like systemic racism aren鈥檛 only used at universities, or among people who talk about race. These are commonly used terms now. So we see a little shifting of the tide of what people understand racism to be,鈥� said Kristen E. Duncan, an assistant professor of secondary social studies education at Clemson University. 鈥淢aking schools a place where students would not learn about it that at all is kind of an attempt to put the genie back in the bottle.鈥�
Waves of pushback can be expected when calls for social change include curriculum, said Andrew Hartman, a professor of history at Illinois State University, who has written about the history of the culture wars in American schools.
鈥淲hen there are social movements pushing for justice in terms of race, and sexuality, and gender, these movements are going to generate a lot of controversy,鈥� he said. 鈥淐onservatives are going to push back however they can. And if they control state legislatures, that鈥檚 a good way to do it.鈥�
Bills鈥� sponsors say they oppose critical race theory
Legislators who have drafted these bills say they hope to prevent critical race theory from being taught in schools.
Critical race theory is an academic practice, a way of examining U.S. society that acknowledges how racism has driven and continues to drive inequity. Legal scholars, including Derrick Bell, Kimberl茅 Crenshaw, and Alan Freeman, first developed the field. In the decades since, the , examining school segregation, and inequities in instruction, assessment, and school funding.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an approach to grappling with a history of white supremacy that rejects the belief that what鈥檚 in the past is in the past, and that the laws and systems that grow from that past are detached from it,鈥� Crenshaw .
Patricia Morgan, a Republican in Rhode Island who proposed the state鈥檚 divisive concepts bill, called critical race theory 鈥渁 divisive, destructive, poisonous ideology鈥� that encourages people to judge each other by the color of their skin.
鈥淚t makes white males oppressors ... and it makes everyone else the victims,鈥� she said in an interview with 91制片厂视频 Week.
But Adrienne Dixson, a professor of education policy, organization, and leadership at the University of Illinois who has on critical race theory in education, said that these lawmakers 鈥渃ompletely misunderstand鈥� what the practice is.
鈥淐ritical race theorists would say, absolutely, that people shouldn鈥檛 be discriminated against by virtue of their race or sex. We don鈥檛 locate individuals as responsible for structural racism,鈥� Dixson said. Instead, she said, scholars acknowledge that racism informed the country鈥檚 founding principles, and that some groups have to 鈥渁gitate and organize and demand and protest鈥� to secure rights.
鈥淚 think in a sense, they鈥檙e setting up strawmen, and claiming that things are happening [in the classroom] that I think are not happening,鈥� Maureen Costello, the executive director of the Center for Antiracist 91制片厂视频, said of the legislators proposing these bills.
For example, teaching about the legacy of slavery and its far-reaching impact on the United States today is 鈥渘ot about assigning blame to the students in front of you,鈥� Costello said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually about inspiring them to do better in their lives.鈥�
Decades of scholarship and testimony from people of color have long demonstrated the persistent racial bias and inequities that exist in the U.S., from education to medical care to housing. Still, some legislators reject the idea that racism and sexism are still forces that shape American society, and don鈥檛 want teachers telling this to students.
鈥淲hat inequities do we deal with today? Everybody has equal opportunity,鈥� said state Sen. Rick Brattin, who sponsored the Missouri bill.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a nation ... of equal opportunity for people to prosper or not prosper. To say that everyone should have equity in property and all things, that鈥檚 the antithesis of America. That鈥檚 socialism,鈥� Brattin said.
Proposed legislation could have a chilling effect on teachers
This is hardly the first time that states or school boards have aimed to stop the teaching of certain subjects or ideas, said Hartman.
From the 1920s through the 1950s, Southern states led successful efforts to ban instruction in evolutionary biology. In the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, state legislators and local school boards tried to prevent teachers from examining capitalism through a critical lens, or prevented teaching about socialism or communism at all, he said.
Still, Hartman said, it鈥檚 hard to imagine how 鈥渄ivisive concepts鈥� legislation would be practically enforced, or that states would take the measures to do so. But any laws passed on this issue could still have a chilling effect on teachers, he said, if parents take it upon themselves to enforce them.
鈥淭his bill is very intentional in its approach to shut down equity work in districts. I think they can sugarcoat it however they want. That is what the bill is intended to do,鈥� said Jenny Risner, the superintendent of Ames Community School District in Ames, Iowa.
Leaders in the district, which participated in the national in February as part of its ongoing equity work, were asked to speak in front of the state鈥檚 House Oversight Committee after parents brought concerns to lawmakers. Goals for the week included supporting all students to feel affirmed at school; examining how the voices, accomplishments, and successes of Black people were represented in curriculum; and questioning whether any district instructional practices prevented students from bringing their 鈥渨hole selves鈥� to school.
Anthony Jones, the district鈥檚 director of equity, is concerned about how state leaders might decide what is or is not 鈥渄ivisive,鈥� potentially shutting down lessons that could lead to productive change.
鈥淲hen we鈥檙e having conversations about things that we鈥檙e unaware of or even uncomfortable with, we need to lean into that so we can learn,鈥� Jones said.
