Federal Lawsuit Poses First Challenge to Ban on Teaching Critical Race Theory
A coalition of educators and civil rights groups sued the state of Oklahoma over a law that restricts what can be taught about racism and gender in public schools as well as public colleges and universities – the first federal lawsuit to challenge one of several laws passed by Republican-controlled states seeking to ban critical race theory.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and others, argues that House Bill 1775 violates the free speech of students and teachers and denies students of color, LGBTQ students and girls the opportunity to learn their history.
The law, which Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, signed into law in May, prohibits the teaching that people – consciously or unconsciously – are inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.
"All young people deserve to learn an inclusive and accurate history in schools, free from censorship or discrimination," says Emerson Sykes, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.
"HB 1775 is so poorly drafted," Sykes says, "that districts and teachers have no way of knowing what concepts and ideas are prohibited. The bill was intended to inflame a political reaction, not further a legitimate educational interest."
Oklahoma is just one of eight Republican-controlled states that has passed laws aimed at censoring discussions around race and gender in classrooms, prompted by a conservative-led backlash to critical race theory. Dozens more are considering similar legislation, and bills have been filed by Republicans in Congress as well – though the federal government is prohibited by law from influencing or dictating school curriculum.
The culture war touched off two years ago when The New York Times published "The 1619 Project," plucking the concept of critical race theory out of academia and propelling into the public consciousness the idea that the racial inequality that's built into so much of how the U.S. operates today has its roots in slavery.
Critical race theory has since roiled Republicans in statehouses and in Congress, who see it as divisive. And it's become a buzzword for some in the GOP who are looking to exploit its politicization to fire up the party's base ahead of the 2022 midterms. It's led to a series of bills aiming to outlaw the teaching of critical race theory specifically or to prohibit contentious talks about racism, discrimination or privilege in general – even though the concept of critical race theory isn't taught in public schools.
In fact, just over half, or 56%, of students surveyed reported that they had opportunities to discuss race and racism "sometimes or a great deal" at school, according to a report from the nonpartisan America's Promise Alliance, an education organization that partnered with its research arm, the Boston University-affiliated Center for Promise and GradNation, an organization that advocates for higher graduation rates, as well as others. Only about 3 in 5 students reported that their school curriculum represented non-white communities "sometimes or a great deal."
The report concluded that "while police violence, protests, and calls for racial justice have occupied the public discourse in communities across the country, many students continue to lack access to opportunities to discuss race and racism within their classrooms."
Yet educators in states that have passed laws similar to Oklahoma's HB 1775 argue that they challenge their ability to accurately teach major U.S. history events by, for example, barring them from using words like "diversity" and "white privilege" and banning the use of books like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "A Raisin in the Sun."
"Educators cannot adequately teach students about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the Trail of Tears, the Civil War, World War II, the Holocaust or any other cultural issue throughout U.S. history by silencing courageous classroom conversations that depict a more inclusive perspective of U.S. history," Anthony Douglas, president of the Oklahoma State Conference of the NAACP, says. "HB 1775 censors and chills the way Oklahoma teachers and students discuss fraught topics in state and U.S. history, particularly regarding racial mistreatment and injustice."
While conservative culture wars tend to flash, fizzle and fade, the obsession with critical race theory has proved otherwise. The debate is currently igniting protests at local school board meetings across the country – even when the issue is not on the agenda for discussion – and it's led to a spike in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against board members.
Earlier this month, at the request of the National School Boards Association, the Department of Justice announced it planned to mobilize the FBI to work with state and local law enforcement leaders to outline strategies for addressing the incidents – a move that prompted backlash from Republicans.
While the lawsuit in Oklahoma is the first, it likely won't be the last, as educators in other states have begun teaching with the new restrictions in place.
For example, earlier this month, a school administrator at the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas, told teachers that if they assign students to read a book about the Holocaust, that they should also offer students access to a book with an "opposing" perspective.
"Just try to remember the concepts of [House Bill] 3979," the administrator said in a recording obtained by NBC News, referring to the new law in Texas. "And make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust … that you have one that has an opposing, that has other perspectives."
"How do you oppose the Holocaust?" one teacher asked.
"Believe me," the administrator said. "That's come up."
