Battle over DEI in public schools moves to NC House

A bill aimed at curbing the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda in North Carolina public schools is on the move in the NC House this week.

Senate Bill 227 aims to remove DEI offices, staff, and divisive concepts from schools, ensuring education focuses on core curriculum without promoting ideologies deemed inconsistent with equality.

The legislation outlines 12 divisive concepts, such as the belief that one race or sex is inherently superior to another, the idea that meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist, and the belief that the US was founded to oppress certain groups.

The measure, which passed the Senate in March along party lines, was presented to the House Judiciary Committee on June 24 by one of its key sponsors, Republican Sen. Michael Lee of New Hanover County.

Lee addressed examples of DEI-related trainings in K-12 schools that he said perpetuated divisions and deepened societal issues. These sessions, he noted, included teachings on “whiteness as property” and “interest convergence,” a concept suggesting racial justice is only supported by white individuals when it benefits their interests.

“These sessions often cost tens of thousands of dollars,” said Lee. He also shared a personal story to underscore his perspective on the issue.

“My father moved from Taiwan in the early 1960s and married my mom in 1964. It wasn’t even legal in North Carolina for my parents to get married because it didn’t become legal until after 1967,” he said. “I do have a sense of some of these issues. But to be training teachers and administrators on these types of concepts that say that some races are better than others, or think they’re better than others, is not something we need to be doing in our public schools.”

The bill has drawn criticism from Democrats, who express concerns over its potential implications for teaching history. 

“It’s common sense that we obviously don’t want schools to teach that one race or sex is inherently superior to the other, or that people are inherently racist, or people should feel guilty … What concerns me is the chilling effect that this bill will have on the teaching of history,” said Rep. Brandon Lofton, D-Mecklenburg.

“I find that particularly troubling that we would want to say that you’re only safe if you have an impartial discussion of historical oppression,” Lofton added. “I think we ought to be able to say unequivocally that slavery was wrong and that it is evil and that segregation was wrong, and not have to have an impartial discussion of that.”

Republicans in the legislature began a push to ban DEI and Critical Race Theory from classrooms in 2021, but those efforts fell prey to then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto pen. In 2023, the House passed an anti-CRT Bill and sent it over to the Senate, but that chamber didn’t take up the measure.

“It’s unfortunate that we even need to take additional steps to ensure our that our children and those that work in our schools are treated equally and don’t become victims of unjust discrimination,” said Dr. Robert Luebke, director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation. “SB 227 bolsters the ideals of equality and nondiscrimination enshrined in the constitution and would end the teaching noxious concepts about race or the inferiority as well as the superiority of certain groups. In my view, these safeguards, can’t come soon enough.”

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