The Arkansas chapter of the NAACP recently announced that they will be joining the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights in a new lawsuit against Arkansas’ latest move to ban diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory in public schools.
ABC first announced this in a report. The NAACP will be part of the amended version of a lawsuit filed last month by civil rights attorney Mike Laux.
Through the suit, the civil rights organizations and lawyers are highlighting the inequalites that AP African American Studies classes are subjected to, specifically when it comes to finances.
Per the lawsuit, compared to other classes, these classes have been extremely underfunded, denying students the right to learn more about Black history.
Students who have taken the class also have been denied the opportunity to apply it to graduation credits and their testing fees haven’t been covered.
The NAACP and the Lawyers are also fighting against the state’s new Literacy, Empowerment, Accountability, Readiness, Networking and School Safety Act, also known as the LEARNS Act.
First, put into motion on March 8 last year, the LEARNS Act prohibits teachers from incorporating lessons about systemic racism and critical race theory as they ban the promotion of concepts such as race and gender.
“Let’s not forget – it was Arkansas children who shouldered the responsibility of integrating our nation’s schools. Nearly 7 decades later, we carry the torch by fighting for the right for that history to be taught,” said the president of the chapter, Barry Jefferson, per the press release. “The recent enactment of this legislation and discriminatory treatment of AP African American studies are an unconstitutional attempt to erode educational equity within our state.”
The NAACP’s latest announcement against the LEARNS Act comes amidst an increase in anti-DEI legislation.
Just last month, in March, the state of Alabama signed into law Senate Bill 129, a bill that effectively ended funding and maintaining all diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Through the new law, employees are also not required to commit to DEI programs.
Earlier, officials in Texas, Utah and Florida all previously banned DEI programs in higher learning education systems with the University of Florida banning them last month.
According to the National Education Association, more states are considering passing anti-DEI legislation, with 24 states reportedly considering doing so this summer alone. Overall, over 30 states have implemented anti-DEI legislation in their systems.
“Students should be allowed to learn about real history, not a whitewashed version. The most painful chapters of American history should not be buried because it makes some people uncomfortable,” said the Director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, David Hinojosa. “Only when we as a nation confront the true past, can we work towards a better future together.”
