Idaho First State to Ban Marxist ‘Critical Race Theory’ in Government Schools

Sources reported that late on Wednesday, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a bill into law titled, “Relating to Dignity and Nondiscrimination in Public Education.” This legislation allows the teaching of so-called critical race theory (CRT) in government schools but with no bite. The measure bars schools from forcing on students the belief that groups of people are inferior or superior to others based on race, ethnicity, sex or religion.

“It is the intent of the legislature that administrators, faculty members, other employees, and students at public schools, including public charter schools and institutions of higher education, respect the dignity of others, acknowledge the right of others to express differing opinions, and foster and defend intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiry and instruction, and freedom of speech and association.”

The new law also bars teachings that suggest individuals, by virtue of their race, ethnicity, sex or religion, are inherently responsible for the actions committed in the past by their counterparts. Idaho lawmakers believe CRT  exacerbates and inflames “divisions on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, or other criteria in ways contrary to the unity of the nation and the well-being of the state of Idaho and its citizens.”

CRT began as a fringe Marxist idea that supposedly examines ways that race and racism influence culture, the justice system, and politics, but it actually teaches that white people and the institutions the founders created are inherently racist and working against minorities. And leftists want American taxpayers to fund this indoctrination of their children.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order rolling back former President Donald Trump’s executive order establishing the 1776 Commission. Trump created the Commission to counteract the left’s dominance in the country’s institutions on CRT. Christopher Rufo, director of the Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth & Poverty, announced in January that he’d recruited a team of legal foundations and law firms to file lawsuits challenging the Biden administration’s order. Rufo wrote about the Idaho law on Twitter:

“Idaho becomes the first state in the nation to ban critical race theory indoctrination in public schools. Governor Brad Little signed the bill into law, which will prohibit schools from promoting race essentialism, collective guilt, and neo-segregation. A historic win!”

Idaho leads the nation in another important piece of legislation. He signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act into law last year to protect women’s equal opportunities in athletics and fair competition in high school and college sports. The law bars men from competing in women’s sports. A court temporarily blocked enforcement while a case against it is pending.

Photo credit: San Mateo (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved