Sen. Hatchett introduces legislation to ban CRT in Georgia schools

District 50 State Senator Bo Hatchett has introduced legislation to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Georgia.

On Wednesday, Hatchett filed Senate Bill 377 intended to prohibit local boards of education, the University System of Georgian, the Technical College System of Georgia, and the Georgia’s state agencies from teaching or promoting certain divisive concepts.

These divisive concepts include curricula that promote the concept that the United States is inherently racist, that one race or ethnicity is inherently superior to another or that an individual’s moral character is determined by their skin color or ethnicity.

Hatchett says “Critical Race Theory has stoked an intense debate around the country and here in Georgia. In order to have honest dialogue, we have to define the terms of the discussion. We must stop divisive concepts from being taught in Georgia Colleges and Universities and seeping down into our K-12 schools, concepts that an overwhelming majority to feel guilty or “less than” because of how they were born. Scapegoating and stereotyping are not acceptable teaching methods. Period.”

Senate Bill 377 also calls for the establishment of a complaint resolution policy for local school systems, USG and TCSG to address any violations of the provisions under the bill.

According to an article written by Claire Suddath on Bloomberg.com, Critical race theory (CRT) proposes that any analysis of American society must take into account its history of racism and how race has shaped attitudes and institutions.

Suddath writes, “It often overlaps with discussions of systemic racism— the ways policies, procedures and institutions work to perpetuate racial inequity even in the absence of personal racial animus. The theory can be used to understand, for example, the fact that the typical White U.S. household has seven times the amount of wealth of the average Black one. That gap can be traced back to, among other things, the U.S. government’s practice starting in the 1930s of marking Black neighborhoods in red ink on maps, ostensibly as a warning of credit risk to lenders. Four decades of mortgage discrimination are still felt today, as home ownership has been the biggest source of wealth accumulation for the middle class.”

Suddath’s complete article can found online at Bloomberg.com.

A current draft of SB 377 is available to view online at www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/all.