Indiana bills could prohibit CRT in state-funded schools, universities

Indiana may effectively ban Critical Race Theory (CRT) tenets from being taught in public schools and universities. 

Senate Bill 167, which is sponsored by seven Republican lawmakers, states that no “state educational institution” can “engage in training, orientation, or therapy” that includes stereotypes on the basis of “sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, [and] political affiliation.”

The state senate bill was read Jan. 4. A House version, House Bill 1040, has been introduced but makes further provisions that prohibit the teaching that “socialism, Marxism, totalitarianism, or similar political systems are compatible with the principles of freedom upon which the United States was founded.”

[RELATED: Oklahoma bill would prohibit ‘1619 Project’ being taught in state universities]

Campus Reform has reported on CRT practitioners’ affinity for leftist politics and the narratives of race-based oppression the theoretical framework promotes through such works as the “1619 Project.” 

In June 2020, Angela Morabito, a former Department of Education press secretary, wrote: 

”Critical Race Theory is the latest lightning rod for controversy in classrooms and school board meetings across America. This controversial doctrine, created on college campuses by academics who bill themselves as anti-racist, has come under fire for its insistence that America is institutionally racist and that people are inherently oppressive or oppressed based on skin color.”

That same month, Dr. James Lindsay told Campus Reform that, ““Marx’s critical philosophy became critical theory, [which] became critical race theory.”  

Campus Reform is closely monitoring legislation from states that critiques the influence CRT has on curriculum from state-funded institutions. 

Recent proposals from Governor Kristi Noem (R- South Dakota) and Governor Ron DeSantis (R- Florida) would ban indoctrination of the curriculum at both the K-12 and collegiate level.

[RELATED: ANALYSIS: Examining the pro-CRT argument for K-12 education with Daniel Buck]

To date, four states have successfully banned the teaching of Critical Race Theory at both the K-12 and collegiate level, while an additional five have instituted bans at the lower level.

Eighteen other states, including Florida and South Dakota, have joined the fray, as well. 

Missouri, Rhode Island, North Carolina, West Virginia, Ohio, Maine, Missouri, and Rhode Island have all proposed bills that would ban CRT at the K-12 level.

Campus Reform reached out to the involved offices for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

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