Louisiana Has Its First Anti-CRT Bill, but It Doesn’t Address CRT At All – Opinion

Representative Valerie Hodges of Denham Springs, a Republican, has filed Louisiana’s first anti-Critical Race Theory bill of this legislative session. I imagine it won’t be the only one.

What you have to understand is that none of the people mentioned in this story – including the writer – actually seem to know anything about how history is taught in Louisiana.

This week Denham Springs Republican Rep. Valarie Hodges became the first to pre-file a bill before the March 15 Regular Session begins that would require schools to teach “race-neutral history.”

“CRT relentlessly focuses on the negative aspects of America’s founding and ignores anything good about our history,” Hodges said in an interview with USA Today Network. “It’s irrational and delusional. The left liberals are pushing this crazy ideology that American is bad.”

This week Denham Springs Republican Rep. Valarie Hodges became the first to pre-file a bill before the March 15 Regular Session begins that would require schools to teach “race-neutral history.”

“CRT relentlessly focuses on the negative aspects of America’s founding and ignores anything good about our history,” Hodges said in an interview with USA Today Network. “It’s irrational and delusional. The left liberals are pushing this crazy ideology that American is bad.”

Louisiana’s Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Vincent Pierre, a Lafayette Democrat, said Hodges’ bill and others like it are an attempt to whitewash American history.

“We’re going to stand together as a caucus to keep that type of legislation from coming out of committee, and if it comes out of committee we’ll stand together on the floor to try to defeat it,” Pierre said.

“Slavery and racism is a thread that weaves its way throughout American history; how can you ignore its impact,” Pierre said. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s part of our history and if we don’t teach it we’re doomed to repeat it.”

Hodges said her bill won’t create historical gaps in history instruction and argues that CRT creates division rather than unity.

The text of H.B. The alleged anti CRT bill, H.B. 27, is here. Problem is, it doesn’t do the things she says. Vincent Pierre also claims that it doesn’t do what it says. Greg Hilburn also claims that it doesn’t do what it says.

It is designed for students in Grades 5-8. Social studies in fifth grade focuses on American History, from early Native Americans to the French and Indian War. Sixth grade is devoted to World Civilizations, from the early days of humanity through to the Renaissance. Seventh grade examines American history from Revolution to Reconstruction. Eighth grade examines Louisiana’s past from colonization to modern times.

This means that a large portion of what she would like to add to those requirements is not relevant or appropriate to the content being taught. The majority of the content she would like to include is irrelevant or inappropriate. Already in 7th grade. You can’t teach Revolution to Reconstruction without the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Federalist Papers, Bill of Rights, and many of those foundational documents. Some of the concepts she wants to add though simply don’t fit in, primarily because they’re taught in high school already. You can’t do comparative government against communism, etc. when those governments aren’t taught until they, you know, actually happen in history.

Here are the standards taught in social studies from kindergarten through the 12th grade. There is nothing she wants to teach that isn’t already taught in the Louisiana code. It’s all currently necessary knowledge if you want to pass the LEAP test, or meet the standards and objectives of the course as it is already.

So, Hodges’ bill does not actually do… anything.

This already renders Rep. Pierre’s comments null and void, but nothing about the bill actually discusses the history of race and issues surrounding it in the United States. It doesn’t take anything out. The bill just expands on the existing statutes regarding what school teachers should teach. At no point does the bill actually change anything to say “Hey, we’re just going to ignore slavery now,” or anything remotely similar. It’s just a bill adding a lot of unnecessary stuff that doesn’t address race at all.

And Hilburn’s framing in the story is no better. It would have been great to actually read the bill before researching the standards for this article. I realize he’s a state government reporter, but the whole idea of journalism is to present facts, and the story does not do that at all. The story presents quotes and frames them. It doesn’t address the CRT issue or what this bill is actually doing to address it.

A fundamental misunderstanding of critical race theory continues to exist on both sides. This isn’t a course, and it isn’t something that you can add to or subtract from a program. It’s largely a sociological framework that explains how you see the world. And, yes, it has the potential to be divisive and controversial, but the most egregious stories you see in the media represent such a small handful of all the school districts in the country, the vast majority of whom aren’t pushing this stuff.

There are many movements out there that want to ban books and reduce the amount of teaching about slavery, the indigenous peoples and the immigration issues that have been rife throughout our nation’s history. There isn’t a set of standards for states that ignores these issues. They are highlighted in many states, particularly in the southern part of the country where slavery is a significant issue.

Although there are instances when states or curriculum creators have tried in the past, those times are now rare and even extinct.

It is important to be alert for these things Everything that distracts from the true job of education. Anything that prevents students learning what is really important. Your kids’ education is at stake, but it’s more about the quality of the schools and systems than it is the content they’re being taught.