5 states that cracked down on CRT

Several state leaders weighed in on the issue of Critical Race Theory (CRT) this year, many barring the teaching in their school systems.

Campus Reform compiled a list of the top 5 states that banned or pushed back on CRT in 2022. 

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

Indiana considered barring CRT from being taught in public schools and universities at the beginning of the year.  

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 and 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.”

Governor bans Critical Race Theory in schools, says it ‘threatens the integrity of education’

Mississippi banned CRT from being taught in public K-12 schools and universities in March.

Governor Tate Reeves signed Senate Bill 2113 on Mar. 14 after it passed the Mississippi Senate in a 32-2 vote. The House had approved it in a 75-43 vote. 

The new legislation states that public institutions cannot teach that any “sex, race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior” nor that individuals should be “treated adversely” on the basis thereof. 

DeSantis to sign bill that introduces legal, funding repercussions for teaching CRT

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 7 titled “Individual Freedom” following the bill’s passage by the state legislature on March 10. 

The bill allows residents to sue public universities in their state that insert tenets of CRT into curricula. 

The Governor signed the bill in April, according to his website. Universities and other state educational institutions that teach CRT could lose state funding. 

Kristi Noem bans Critical Race Theory at South Dakota universities

In April, Campus Reform reported that South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed House Bill 1012, which “protect[s] students and employees at institutions of higher education from divisive concepts.”

The legislation’s seven-point definition of “divisive concepts” includes: “That any race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior; That individuals should be discriminated against or adversely treated because of their race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin; That an individual’s moral character is inherently determined by their race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.”

NH bill takes aim at professors peddling CRT in classroom

In January, Campus Reform reported that a bill in New Hampshire aimed to make it harder for college professors to spout their personal politics in the classroom or indoctrinate students with tenants of CRT. 

The proposed legislation, HB1313, would apply the state’s current “Right to Freedom from Discrimination in Public Workplaces and Education” law to higher education. 

If passed, HB1313 will prevent professors from “teaching that any one group of people is inherently superior, racist, sexist or oppressive,” the Concord Monitor reported. That language mirrors current bills in Florida and South Dakota that would ban teaching Critical Race Theory in those states’ public schools.

Since Campus Reform’s last report, state Republicans put regulations in place that bar CRT-related discussion in the classroom, including banning the ‘teaching that the United States was founded on racism,’ according to Boston.com.