Louisiana colleges could be prohibited from requiring race, gender classes
Rep. Emily Chenevert presented her bill to the Senate Education Committee on May 15, 2024. (Allison Allsop/Louisiana Illuminator)
A Louisiana legislative committee has dramatically rewritten an anti-DEI policy proposal for state agencies that would now prohibit schools from requiring certain race and gender-based curriculum for undergraduate students.
The House and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a substantially re-written version of House Bill 421 by Rep. Emily Chenevert, R-Baton Rouge, which would prohibit compulsory classes that cover any of the following subjects:
Critical race theory
White fragility or white guilt
Systemic racism, institutional racism or anti-racism
Systemic bias, implicit bias or unconscious bias
Intersectionality
Gender identity
Allyship
Race-based reparations
Race-based privilege
The use of pronouns
Courses that include these topics could still be taught, but the classes could not be required for graduation. The bill makes an exception for majors, minors and certificates that are specifically related to race or gender studies.
In its original state, Chenevert's bill would have prohibited diversity, equity and inclusion practices in state agencies, but an amendment made public late Wednesday night drastically re-wrote the bill, focusing it on college and university curriculum in addition to forbidding DEI trainings.
Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, objected to Chenevert putting forward major and controversial changes to the bill with little notice. Committee members voted 10-6 to advance the proposal.
Contacted for his reaction after the vote, LSU Faculty Senate President Dan Tirone said the measure would restrict subject matter experts from determining what topics are necessary for students to learn, though he said he appreciates the bill does not place a blanket ban on those subjects.
'Having state statutes which limit what can be taught in many of the mandatory introductory courses across a wide array of fields … seems to be the imposition of a bureaucratic process which will diminish the ability to adequately prepare our students and substitute policymaker preferences for the professional expertise of our professors and instructors,' Tirone said in a statement.
Opponents of Chenevert's revised bill include the Southern University Foundation, the NAACP Baton Rouge chapter, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Louisiana Democratic Party.
'It's been a known fact that there have been pervasive instances of racial and gender discrimination in our state and nation,' Louisiana Democratic Party chairman Randal Gaines said. 'Those particular consequences have not been eliminated. So DEI programs not only help to remedy those consequences, but they make sure that they're not repeated.'
Conservative groups supporting the bill include the Foundation for Government Accountability and the Louisiana Family Forum. Chenevert told committee members that Gov. Jeff Landry supports the legislation.
While Chenevert said she believes her bill promotes equality and eliminating bias, Black lawmakers on the committee raised concerns with eliminating practices they view as necessary.
'I've only been able to get jobs in government agencies because they were forced to see me, they were forced to give me an opportunity,' Rep. Candace Newell, D-New Orleans, said. 'Because with my three degrees, I still was not given opportunity based on my merit because the color of my skin, and the gender that I was born kept me out of those places.'
Marcelle also expressed concern that the bill's language could prohibit law enforcement from receiving racial bias recognition training. Chenevert said she did not believe the bill would prohibit that training, but she indicated she was open to amendments that would clarify that.
As it reads now, the legislation would prohibit any training, policies or procedures 'designed in reference to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation.'
Last year, Chenevert sponsored legislation to require K-12 schools, colleges and universities to issue reports to the legislature on their DEI spending. Schools at all levels reported minimal expenditures on DEI activities.
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