The NCGOP’s latest attack on education would ban K-12 schools from teaching about systemic racism

With all the talk this week surrounding the unprecedented move by the North Carolina Supreme Court to rehear two voting rights cases the previous court decided mere months ago, it’s easy to have missed the NCGOP’s latest attack on our children’s education.

The state House Education committee held a hearing on House Bill 187 this week, a bill that would ban K-12 schools from teaching about systemic racism.

The bill, sponsored by the House Education chairman Rep. John Torbett (R-Gaston), was previously filed in 2021 and was vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper.

Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) warned that the bill could have a “chilling effect” on teachers and students by creating “ambiguity of what can and cannot be taught and discussed.” 

The North Carolina Association of Educators, the state’s largest teacher’s organization, opposes HB 187. NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly said the bill is an attempt to limit the “honest and sometimes uncomfortable teaching of history.”

Since January 2021, 44 states have introduced legislation or made moves to limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism in class, according to Education Week.

Students should be taught about both the good and bad parts of American history, even if it is sometimes difficult. So why are Republican politicians trying to censor our history? They want to divide us for their own political gain. 

The bill will now advance to the House Rules Committee.