For this sort of discussion, Iâm kinda feeling like it seems worthwhile to have present some of the actual text of these laws and not only second-hand claims. The ones Iâm aware of are fairly short, e.g. the Oklahoma one is about 400 words, which seems short enough to be worth inlining in full (Â http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2021-22%20ENR/hB/HB1775%20ENR.PDF ):
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A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 24-157 of Title 70, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows
A. 1. No enrolled student of an institution of higher education within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education shall be required to engage in any form of mandatory gender or sexual diversity training or counseling; provided, voluntary counseling shall not be prohibited. Any orientation or requirement that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping or a bias on the basis of race or sex shall be prohibited.
2. Pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education shall promulgate rules, subject to approval by the Legislature, to implement the provisions of this subsection.
B. The provisions of this subsection shall not prohibit the teaching of concepts that align to the Oklahoma Academic Standards.
1. No teacher, administrator or other employee of a school district, charter school or virtual charter school shall require or make part of a course the following concepts:
a. one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex,
b. an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously,
c. an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex,
d. members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex,
e. an individualâs moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex,
f. an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex,
g. any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex, or
h. meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race to oppress members of another race.
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2. The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules, subject to approval by the Legislature, to implement the provisions of this subsection.
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SECTION 2. This act shall become effective July 1, 2021.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
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I feel like Iâm a bit puzzled as to how to interpret this kind of text as âyou must never teach that America was racistâ. I suppose one could interpret the last sentence of section 1.A.1 in such a way - to mean not just as a ban on teaching in a biased/stereotyping manner but also a ban on presenting historical and present-day examples of bias as well - but given the thrust of the rest of the lawâs text, this seems like a rather strained interpretation? Or maybe there are items that are present in some of the other âanti-CRTâ bills that are missing from the Oklahoma one?