Arizona Becomes Latest State to Slam the Brakes on Critical Race Theory in Government
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill on Friday that prohibits the teaching of critical race theory in the state’s local governments.
The bill prevents “the state and any local governments from requiring their employees to engage in orientation, training or therapy that suggest an employee is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously,” according to a statement.
The bill passed the state House of Representatives on a 31-25 vote and the state Senate on a 16-12 vote.
“I am not going to waste public dollars on lessons that imply the superiority of any race and hinder free speech,” Ducey said in the statement, pledging not to use tax dollars for “training on political commentary.”
Today I am proud to sign HB 2906, prohibiting the concerning practice of critical race theory, the latest action in just the past week to prevent the teaching of critical race theory in Arizona public schools and other government entities 1/ https://t.co/S4MHzao3XR
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) July 9, 2021
This law follows one signed by Ducey last week that “ensures that students cannot be taught that one race, ethnic group or sex is in any way superior to another, or that anyone should be discriminated against on the basis of these characteristics.”
“Arizona stands with Martin Luther King Jr.’s proclamation that people should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, and I’m grateful for the support of Governor Ducey and my colleagues in passing this important legislation,” Republican state Rep. Jim Hoffman said in the statement.
“We should be focused on bringing people together, not pushing people apart,” state Rep. Michelle Udall said. “Critical race theory will do nothing but increase divisiveness in our communities, which I think we can all agree we should try to prevent.”
Idaho, Arkansas and other states have similarly banned the teaching of critical race theory in public schools and state agencies.
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