Arizona Becomes Ninth State to Ban CRT

CV NEWS FEED // Gov. Doug Ducey, R-AZ, signed legislation into law Friday which banned the teaching and promotion of Critical Race Theory in public schools and other state institutions.

The new law states that no state agency, city, town, county or “political subdivision of this state” may “use public monies for training, orientation or therapy that presents any form of blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex.”

The legislation, House Bill 2906, defined “Blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex” as any promotion of the following concepts, among others:

• One race, ethnic group or sex is inherently morally or intellectually superior to another race, ethnic group or sex.
• An individual, by virtue of the individual’s race, ethnicity or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.
• An individual should be invidiously discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of the individual’s race, ethnicity or sex.
• An individual’s moral character is determined by the individual’s race, ethnicity or sex.
• An individual, by virtue of the individual’s race, ethnicity or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed by other members of the same race, ethnic group or sex.
• An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress because of the individual’s race, ethnicity or sex.
• Meritocracy or traits such as hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race, ethnic group or sex to opress members of another race, ethnic group or sex.

“When I took office, I vowed to use taxpayer dollars responsibly, and funding training on political commentary is not responsible spending,” said Gov. Ducey in a press release. “I am not going to waste public dollars on lessons that imply the superiority of any race and hinder free speech.”

“House Bill 2906 goes a long way towards protecting Arizonans against divisive and regressive lessons,” Ducey added. 

Ducey signed another law last week which prohibited teaching that any one race or sex is inherently superior to others, and allowed fines of up to $5,000 against schools found in violation of the law. 

“Arizona stands with Martin Luther King Jr.’s proclamation that people should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, and I’m grateful for the support of Governor Ducey and my colleagues in passing this important legislation,” said Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-12.

“Critical race theory will do nothing but increase divisiveness in our communities, which I think we can all agree we should try to prevent,” said Rep. Michelle Udall, R-25. “I appreciate the support of my colleagues and the governor for passing this legislation.”

Leading CRT-critic Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute characterized the new legislation as a big win for students and parents. “The law prohibits the state from promoting race essentialism, collective guilt, and racial superiority theory,” he wrote. “Just say no to state-sanctioned racism.”

“We have now banned critical race theory indoctrination in 9 states—AZ, TX, TN, FL, AR, OK, NH, IA, ID—protecting 75 million Americans from state-sanctioned racism,” Rufo added. “The public has the ultimate authority over our public institutions, not the bureaucrats and the New York Times.”