[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 397 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 397
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Critical Race
Theory serves as a prejudicial ideological tool, rather than an
educational tool, and should not be taught in K-12 classrooms as a way
to teach students to judge individuals based on sex, race, ethnicity,
and national origin.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 14, 2021
Mr. Owens (for himself, Mr. Banks, Mr. Allen, Mr. Babin, Mr. Bishop of
North Carolina, Mrs. Boebert, Mr. Brooks, Mr. Buck, Mr. Cawthorn, Mr.
Cloud, Mr. Donalds, Mr. Good of Virginia, Mr. Fallon, Mr. Grothman,
Mrs. Harshbarger, Mr. Harris, Mr. Issa, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Jacobs of New
York, Mr. Joyce of Pennsylvania, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania, Mr. Mast,
Mr. Moolenaar, Mr. Perry, Mr. Reschenthaler, Mr. Rice of South
Carolina, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Roy, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, Mr.
Stewart, Mr. Tiffany, and Mr. Calvert) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Critical Race
Theory serves as a prejudicial ideological tool, rather than an
educational tool, and should not be taught in K-12 classrooms as a way
to teach students to judge individuals based on sex, race, ethnicity,
and national origin.
Whereas Critical Race Theory seeks to portray the United States not as a united
Nation of people, families, and communities striving for a common
purpose, but rather one of many victimized groups based on sex, race,
ethnicity, and national origin;
Whereas Critical Race Theory's teachings stand in contrast to the overarching
goal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prevent discrimination on the
basis of race, color, or national origin in the United States;
Whereas William Jacobson, a Cornell University professor, created
criticalrace.org to highlight the over 200 universities across the
Nation with Critical Race Theory programming;
Whereas while present on college and university campuses for decades, Critical
Race Theory has increasingly infiltrated our Nation's elementary and
secondary school classrooms in recent years;
Whereas Critical Race Theory serves to resegregate institutions of education and
balkanize students into groups by race and ethnicity;
Whereas efforts to indoctrinate Critical Race Theory into American school
children are designed to eventually transform America by stigmatizing
its economic system and create a hatred of all its institutions;
Whereas Critical Race Theory founder Derrick Bell has stated that ``most
critical race theorists are committed to a program of scholarly
resistance, and most hope scholarly resistance will lay the groundwork
for wide-scale resistance.'';
Whereas Critical Race Theory serves to reinforce the soft bigotry of low
expectations by substituting systemic racism as the determining factor
in academic achievement gaps rather than the ongoing failure of
policymakers and the education system to provide students of color
necessary educational opportunities;
Whereas Critical Race Theory has manifested itself in various damaging ways in
American elementary and secondary schools;
Whereas the 1619 Project, which puts slavery, not the ideal of equality, at the
center of our Nation's storyline and has been widely debunked by
historians across the ideological spectrum, is nevertheless being taught
in 4,500 classrooms across the country;
Whereas the California Department of Education (CDE) Foundation, in partnership
with over 30 education organizations and the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, developed ``A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction''
toolkit that promotes the concept that White supremacy manifests itself
through the focus on finding the right answers, thereby discouraging
teachers from requiring students to show their work or consider ways
there could be two answers to a problem;
Whereas, in 2017, the Seattle Public School Board directed the ``Ethnic Studies
Task Force'' to develop an ethnic studies curriculum, which defined
ethnic studies as a way to counteract systems of oppression, such as
patriarchy and capitalism;
Whereas the Madison Metropolitan School District is requiring staff to
participate in mandatory 21 hours of professional development that
claims practices such as teachers leading a classroom, keeping a class
on schedule, and the term ``student'' are a part of White, Western
thought and are racist;
Whereas students at a Las Vegas charter school were required to take a yearlong
virtual ``Sociology of Change'' course where assignments required
students to reveal their race, gender, sexual orientation, and
disabilities and then determine if oppression or privilege were a part
of those identities, allegedly without any accommodations if a student
had a conscientious objection to the course;
Whereas, in October 2020, the San Diego Unified School District board voted to
change ``discriminatory grading practices'' and no longer requires
students to turn in their homework on time in order to ``be an anti-
racist school district'';
Whereas while students should learn how to actively engage in civil society,
Critical Race Theory often advocates for ``action civics'', which in
some school districts has resulted in students being taught how to
engage in disruptive protests without as much concern for teaching the
fundamentals of how government works and why;
Whereas according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of
Pennsylvania, just over half of all Americans cannot name all three
branches of government, and 76 percent of eighth grade students scored
at or below proficient in civics on the most recent National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment;
Whereas State legislators across the country have introduced bills to prevent
schools from teaching that the United States is fundamentally racist or
sexist, and that on account of an individual's race or gender they may
be responsible for actions committed in the past;
Whereas, on January 19, 2021, the Department of Education's Office for Civil
Rights posted a webinar to provide an overview on how racially exclusive
practices are prohibited under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
but the Department of Education has since archived the webinar and
labeled it as ``not for reliance''; and
Whereas, on January 22, 2021, the Department of Education's Office for Civil
Rights reportedly suspended a finding that an Illinois school district
violated title VI of the Civil Rights Act when it segregated students
and staff, directed teachers to treat students differently based on
their race, and endorsed racially charged messages: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns racism in all forms and calls on the American
people to eliminate racism and defend the civil rights of all
people, including within our Nation's education system;
(2) calls on the Department of Education's Office for Civil
Rights and State attorneys general to assist schools in being
compliant with existing civil rights laws and to investigate
and enforce the law when appropriate;
(3) supports States' and communities' actions to implement
policies and practices to protect the rights of parents and
guardians to know what their children are being taught;
(4) calls on States and communities to support curriculum
transparency policies to make elementary and secondary
education curriculum materials accessible, including online, to
parents, guardians, and the public for review before the use of
such materials;
(5) recognizes that open enrollment and school choice
policies allow students to access the school, and thereby the
curriculum, which the parent or guardian believes is best
positioned to educate the student;
(6) condemns State and local educational agencies that
facilitate or expend resources on education and professional
development exercises that focus on ostracizing one individual
or group from another;
(7) condemns the practice of requiring teachers to receive
Critical Race Theory education in order to be certified as a
teacher; and
(8) urges State and local educational agencies to ensure
that students are taught civics education to learn the core
tenants of American Government, the Constitution, the rule of
law, and that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits
discrimination by race, color, or national origin.
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