Earlier this year, State Rep. Ed Oliver (R-Dadeville) declared his intentions to restrict the teaching of so-called Critical Race Theory in public education and throughout state government.

The goal he said was to stand up to “woke-ism.”

During an interview with Campus Reform’s Angela Morabito earlier this week, the Tallapoosa County Republican lawmaker reiterated his intentions but added the objective was not to stymy free speech protected under the First Amendment.

Instead, he said it was to “stop indoctrination.”

“What we hope is — is the same people will act like grown-ups and teach things that we want taught as opposed to things they feel that are their opinion,” Oliver explained. “We’re trying to stop indoctrination. We’re not saying you can’t teach anything in a class or discuss anything like adults. The First Amendment is critical to me, and I do believe that the speech that you ought to protect is the speech that you hate the most. And I think that’s important.”

Oliver’s bill, HB9, is pre-filed for the 2022 legislative session and is co-sponsored by State Reps. Proncey Robertson (R-Mt. Hope) and Mike Holmes (R-Wetumpka).

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.