Alabama State Board of Education officially bans Critical Race Theory teachings in public schools

The Alabama Board of Education (BOE) on Thursday voted to officially ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in state public schools. The resolution was passed along party lines, with all seven Republicans voting for its approval, while the board’s two lone Democrats voted against the measure.

The board-approved resolution is titled, “The preservation of intellectual freedom and non-discrimination in Alabama’s public schools.” Its opening line reads, “the Alabama State Board of Education believes that all individuals are endowed with equal inalienable rights, without respect to race or sex.”

It further states, “[C]oncepts that impute fault, blame, a tendency to oppress others, or the need to feel guilt or anguish to persons solely because of their race or sex violate the premises of individual rights, equal opportunity, and individual merit,” going on to say that the controversial concept has “no place” in the state’s “public educational system.”

The resolution later states that the state BOE “will not support any K-12 public education resources or standards intended to indoctrinate students in social or political ideologies that promote one race or sex above another.”

The Alabama Policy Institute took to social media to applaud the ban, which the think-tank has long advocated.

The State Board of Education has formally opposed critical race theory in public K-12 schools. API called on the board to reject CRT in schools and we applaud the Board of Education for this decision. #alpoliticshttps://t.co/dQqPYWZaWi

— Alabama Policy Institute (@alabamapolicy) August 12, 2021

According to the Montgomery Advertiser, the ban is officially adopted into the state administrative code, which would allow local boards to take disciplinary action against any teacher who acts in defiance of the resolution.

CRT has become a leading social issue in Alabama and across the nation, as partisan divides over the contentious academic concept continue to spark intense debate. Progressives have long argued that the implementation of CRT is necessary for sake of so-called “anti-racism” and “equity.” However, many skeptics view the teachings as inherently racist in nature, due to the concept’s fixation with racial classification and labels such as “victims” and “oppressors.”

Many conservatives have fiercely pushed back against efforts to promote teachings of CRT, with some saying the concept is akin to a form of cultural Marxism.

A number of Alabama lawmakers have vowed to address the issue via the legislative process. However, it is unclear whether those attempts will continue forward as the state BOE has essentially barred all major tenets of Critical Race Theory from being taught in the state’s K-12 public schools.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL