Restricting Education on Race and Racism: Legislative Concerns and Bright Spots
December 20, 2024
Overview
There is clear evidence of racism’s broad impact on health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “A growing body of research from leading organizations demonstrates that racism itself—above and beyond other social determinants of health—negatively impacts health outcomes.” Yet, at the same time that jurisdictions across the nation have taken steps to progress health equity and recognize that racism is a public health crisis, there has also been an alarming trend of states actively restricting education on these crucial topics.
The opportunity to learn about and discuss race and racism is a crucial component of efforts to combat racial health disparities and is a conversation that should be started at a young age. These discussions help provide understanding around racist norms and practices that have created, and which continue to perpetuate, worse health outcomes for communities of color and can pave the way to dismantling these norms and practices. Yet, at the same time that jurisdictions across the nation have taken steps to progress health equity and recognize that racism is a public health crisis, there has also been an alarming trend of states actively restricting education on these crucial topics.
The Network’s recently released 2021-2022 Racial Equity Dataset identifies laws likely to promote racial equity along with those that may hinder its growth, and includes laws that erect hurdles around education on race and racism enacted during this period. This post examines these laws, as well as some of the laws that fell outside the scope of the analysis but warrant noting.
Though the laws that restrict education may not appear problematic at first glance, they are a response to necessary and studied efforts to reckon with the legacy of racism. These laws are rooted in attempts to mischaracterize education grounded in anti-racism as racist itself. That includes the widely misconstrued practice of critical race theory and the concept of implicit bias.
Limiting and even forbidding education and training on these topics holds back meaningful conversations about U.S. history, culture, and society – depriving people of the chance to learn from these discussions. Legislation that curbs discussion about race and racism makes it difficult to address these issues, and instead, threatens to erode the advancements that have been made.
Legislative Concerns
Of the laws not captured by the Dataset are those that were enacted in New Hampshire (2021), Oklahoma (2021), and South Dakota (2022). Though each of these laws is worded differently, there are striking similarities. All three laws, for example, include language that stymies education on the topic of inherent racism. Comparable language was first included in a 2020 Presidential Executive Order purportedly aimed at “promoting unity in the Federal workforce” by prohibiting certain types of training. The Order defines the notion of “divisive concepts”, a term included in the South Dakota law and others. One so-called “divisive concept” is the notion that “an indivdiual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” Such restrictions impede education on concepts like implicit bias.
Other state laws that echo language from the 2020 Order were enacted in 2021 and 2022, many of which were captured in the Dataset. In Texas, legislation was passed that also prohibits course inclusion on the concept of inherent racism. A Kentucky law, instead of prohibiting education on concepts, directs that instruction be consistent with certain concepts, including the concept that slavery and laws that enforced racial segregation and discrimination were contrary to fundamental American principles, “but that defining racial disparities solely on the legacy of this institution is destructive to the unification of our nation.” Like the laws discussed above, the Kentucky law also includes the concept that one does not “bear responsibility for actions committed by other members of the same race or sex.” A 2021 Iowa law also restricts teaching on “specific defined concepts” which includes the concept of inherent racism and the concept that a person should feel guilt or any psychological distress in relation to their race or sex. Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida passed similar legislation in the same time period.
Though many of these laws, like those in Oklahoma and New Hampshire, are being challenged, the trend to attempt to restrict education on race and racism continued through the 2023 and 2024 legislative cycles.
Bright Spots
Despite the trend in some states to impede learning on race and racism, the Dataset captured other state legislation enacted to require education and training that stands in stark contrast to those cited above. In Delaware, for example, a 2021 law requires that each school district and charter school that serves K-12 students provide instruction on Black history with a minimum list of concepts that must be included; those include“[t]he relationship between white supremacy, racism, and American slavery”, “[h]ow the tragedy of enslavement was perpetuated through segregation and federal, state, and local laws”, and “[t]he socioeconomic struggle Black people endured, and continue to endure, in working to achieve fair treatment in the United States; as well as the agency they employ in this work for equal treatment.” And in New Mexico, a law was enacted that directs a school liaison and advisory council to “develop or recommend anti-racism and cultural sensitivity training and professional development programs for all school personnel.”
There is clear evidence of racism’s broad impact on health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “A growing body of research from leading organizations demonstrates that racism itself—above and beyond other social determinants of health—negatively impacts health outcomes.” Education on race and racism lays the foundation needed to subvert racist norms and practices, while attempts to restrict this learning will continue to contribute to ongoing health disparities for people of color.
The Network will continue to monitor these and other legal trends. To further explore the data focused on state laws impacting racial health equity, access the Dataset on the Network’s website.
This post was written by Phyllis Jeden, Senior Attorney, Network for Public Health Law – Mid States Region. The Network for Public Health Law provides information and technical assistance on issues related to public health. The legal information and assistance provided in this document do not constitute legal advice or legal representation. For legal advice, readers should consult a lawyer in their state.
Support for the Network is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The views expressed in this post do not represent the views of (and should not be attributed to) RWJF.