NASHVILLE – Tennessee lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill to strip funding from public schools if they teach certain concepts involving systemic racism in America.
Senators passed Senate Bill 623 on a 25-7 vote, while representatives in the House later approved it 69-20 during sometimes emotionally fraught debates where Democrats, many of them Black, implored mostly white Republican colleagues to reject the measure.
In a debate that gained national attention, Democrats accused Republicans of whitewashing U.S. history and denying that slavery even existed.
“It actually robs teachers of the ability to teach true history,” Sen. Brenda Gilmore, D-Nashville, said of the legislation. “And, contrary to what some people may think, being an African American, I do not cast blame, but I think we do have to admit that slavery did occur. It was a dark period in our history. We have to acknowledge the wrongs of our society, even when it’s a difficult conversation to have. And as a result of slavery, that today, in 2021, racism still does exist.”
Republicans railed against a new educational movement to place America’s cultural roots at the first arrival of slaves in 1619 rather than at the Declaration of Independence in 1776.