MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Legislation to ban a list of “divisive concepts” from being taught in K-12 classrooms and state worker training was headed to a key committee vote.
The Senate State Governmental Affairs Committee will take up the bill Tuesday afternoon. The committee’s decision will decide if the measure has a chance of winning approval in the closing days of the 2022 legislative session.
The bill by Republican Rep. Ed Oliver of Dadeville would prohibit a list of “divisive concepts” from being taught in schools and in diversity training for state entities. The banned concepts would include that Alabama and United States are “inherently racist or sexist” and that anyone should be asked to accept “a sense of guilt, complicity, or a need to work harder” because of their race or gender.
The bill is part of a conservative effort to put guidelines on how race and gender are taught in classrooms and worker training sessions, but that Black lawmakers have called an endeavor to whitewash the nation’s history.
The Alabama House of Representatives approved the bill earlier this month on a 65-32 vote after an emotional night of debate.