North Carolina could soon join the growing number of states that has made it more difficult to discuss race in the classroom if state Republican lawmakers have their way.
House Bill 187 is an anti-CRT bill that lawmakers are again trying to enact after Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed it in 2021. While it omits the term “critical race theory,” the bill titled “Equality in Education” would prohibit public schools from promoting ideas that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex,” according to The Charlotte Observer.
House Speaker Tim Moore said on Thursday that he wanted to ensure that students are in school to learn, not to be brainwashed. Students also, he said, are not in school to be degraded or mistreated and he contended that the proposals in the bill would prevent that.
“And then also, maybe even more importantly,” Moore added, “is to guarantee the transparency to parents to know what’s being taught and to have an opportunity to have a say-so in their child’s education.”
House Bill 187 would prohibit teachers from causing students to experience “discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress” because of their race or sex, among other things.
The legislation would also mandate that schools publish online beforehand any instruction related to prohibited ideas. They would also be required to disclose if they employ diversity trainers, consultants or lecturers with a history of promoting these ideas.
Though critical race theory is not a school subject, Moore says the term frequently is used in conversation to refer to anything that seeks to educate, separate and oppose particular racial or ethnic groups.
“Some of the most extreme that’s out there that got parents worked up, was where they were singling out various children and saying that because of how you look, because of your religious beliefs, you’ve…
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