N.C. Republicans push bill to limit teaching of race, racism

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Republicans are quickly advancing a last-minute proposal that would prevent public schools from promoting several concepts about race and racism. A bill originally seeking to clarify reopening guidance for charter schools was substituted during an education committee Tuesday with a new plan to bar schools from teaching ideas that Republicans say are “contrary to the equality and rights of all persons.” The bill comes as lawmakers in a number of states this year have debated how and whether systemic racism should be taught in public schools. The proposal Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican who chairs the education committee, said House Bill 324 is about promoting equality, not rewriting history. “This is a common-sense bill that provides reasonable expectations for the kind of civil discourse we want our children to experience in public schools,” she said in a statement released by House Speaker Tim Moore’s office promoting the measure, adding that “there is no room for divisive rhetoric that condones preferential treatment of any one group over another.” If approved by the chamber’s rules committee, the bill would make its way to the House floor.