As predicted, a Democratic governor vetoed a bill that banned the teaching of Critical Race Theory in public schools. WRAL reported that North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill and said it was a concerted effort to push “calculated, conspiracy-laden politics into public education.”
The bill, House Bill 324, banned teachers from teaching topics such as racial superiority, race-related guilt and that meritocracy is “inherently racist.” The Republican legislators said that the bill is supposed to ensure equality being taught in the classroom and the bill’s author said it acts as a bulwark against “indoctrination.”
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, supported the bill and appointed a committee to look into complaints related to classroom indoctrination. Robinson is the first-ever elected black lieutenant governor in North Carolina’s history. In a statement, Robinson said, “This lazy response is the same one that the governor has used for weeks to avoid addressing a serious issue that is plaguing public education in North Carolina.” He blasted Cooper, “For the governor to say that this bill is pushing ‘conspiracy-laden politics’ does a disservice to the teachers, students and parents across our state who have voiced their concerns.”
North Carolina Democrats claimed that the vetoed bill would chill free speech in classrooms while Gov. Cooper called it a distraction from “supporting teachers, helping students recover lost learning and investing in our public schools.”
Since no Democratic legislator voted for the bill, and although Republican legislators have a 69-51 majority, there are likely not enough votes to override Cooper’s veto.
North Carolina is not the only state where Republican-majority legislatures are pushing to ban Critical Race Theory from being taught in classrooms. Oklahoma, for example, passed a ban on teaching Critical Race Theory, which ban was widely criticized by teachers and education officials.
Critical Race Theory is the flawed theory which claims all longtime or established American institutions, whether they be political, legal, or education, are inherently racist and are biased against black Americans. It promotes the unproven argument that America has not progressed from the allegedly embedded racism in these institutions, despite history proving the theory and its supporters wrong.
