So, there’s definitely probably a bit of overreaction to these bills. It’s also definitely very very clear what Republican objectives are with them. They’re precisely like fetal murder laws: “how can you object to making baby murder illegal? You’re a monster!” In this case: “How can you object to saying America’s founding principles categorically reject slavery and racism? And you shouldn’t be making people feel bad on account of their race, you racist!”
Texas (quote lightly edited for readability)
a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a state agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter school may not require or make part of a course the concept that:
- an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex
- meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race to oppress members of another race
- the advent of slavery in the territory that is now the United States constituted the true founding of the United States; or with respect to their relationship to American values, slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States, which include liberty and equality
or require an understanding of The 1619 Project.
Oklahoma (edited for readability)
Public school districts and public charter schools in this state shall be prohibited from teaching, instructing or training any student to believe any of [these] divisive concepts:
- any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex,
- meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by a particular race to oppress another race
- any other form of race or sex stereotyping or any other form of race or sex scapegoating
“Race or sex stereotyping” means ascribing character traits, values, moral and ethical codes, privileges, status or beliefs to a race or sex, or an individual because of his or her race or sex
“Race or sex scapegoating” means assigning fault, blame or bias to a race or sex or to members of a race or sex because of their race or sex. It also includes any claim that consciously or unconsciously and by virtue of his or her race or sex, members of any race are inherently racist or are inherently inclined to oppress others, or that members of a sex are inherently sexist or inclined to oppress others.
Florida (note here the oh-so-subtle conflation of Holocaust denial and critical race theory.)
Instruction on the required topics must be factual and objective, and may not suppress or distort significant historical events, such as the Holocaust, slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the civil rights movement and the contributions of women, African American and Hispanic people to our country.
Examples of theories that distort historical events and are inconsistent with State Board approved standards include the denial or minimization of the Holocaust, and the teaching of Critical Race Theory, meaning the theory that racism is not merely the product of prejudice, but that racism is embedded in American society and its legal systems in order to uphold the supremacy of white persons. Instruction may not utilize material from the 1619 Project and may not define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence. Instruction must include the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments.
Ohio (The language in Ohio’s bill is “suspiciously” nearly identical to the Texas and Oklahoma bills, so I’m not going to quote it again. Almost like this is a coordinated legislative campaign.)
