By Cash Michaels –
An effort similar to the “Equality in Education” bill was stymied by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in 2021 when he vetoed the measure, calling it “conspiracy-laden politics.”
On the heels of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banning advanced placement African American history curriculum in the state’s public schools, North Carolina Republican lawmakers have decided to try again to get a bill outlawing the teaching of what they call “critical race theory (CRT)” in NC public schools. Their efforts were stymied by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in 2021 when he vetoed the measure, calling it “conspiracy-laden politics.”
Now, with just one vote shy of a supermajority in the state House, GOP lawmakers believe they can override Cooper’s veto after introducing House Bill 187 called “Equality in Education,” which was introduced last Thursday.
According to the language, HB 187 is “…an act to demonstrate the General Assembly’s intent that students, teachers and administrators, and other school employees recognize the equality and rights of all persons and to prohibit public school units from promoting certain concepts that are contrary to that intent.”
If that language seems general and vague, the subsequent language is anything but, and has given Democrats, especially African American Democratic House members, pause.
Among the many restrictions cited in the proposed measure, public schools in North Carolina would be prohibited from teaching (though the bill uses the term “promote”), among other things, that “an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex; the United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex; the rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among…
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