Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order on Tuesday banning the use of critical race theory in Louisiana's K-12 public education system.
The governor's office said Critical Race Theory (CRT) contains “divisive teachings that teach students to view life through the lens of race and victimhood,” and Landry believes students should learn about “American exceptionalism and the principles embodied in our state and federal Constitutions, which recognize the equal worth of every individual.”
“This executive order is a much-needed relief to parents and students across the state, especially as children return to school,” Landry said in a statement. “Teaching children that they are currently or will be oppressed or destined to be oppressors based on their race or origins is wrong and has no place in Louisiana classrooms.”
“I am confident that under Dr. Brumley's leadership, our nation's education system will continue to move in the right direction, prioritizing American values and common sense teachings,” he added.
The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) voted unanimously in January to reappoint Dr. Cade Brumley as Louisiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
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Then-Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry testified Thursday, March 30, 2023, during a hearing in Missouri v. Biden before the House Select Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Federal Weaponization. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Inherently divisive concepts like Critical Race Theory (CRT) and its derivatives teach students to view the world through the lens of race and infer that some students are consciously or unconsciously racist, sexist, or oppressive and that some students are victims,” the order reads.
The governor's office said these “inherently divisive concepts are antithetical to America's founding ideals of liberty, justice, equality, opportunity, and national unity.”
The order cited Article 326 of the 2024 Legislative Session, which “enshrined into law that parents of children attending public schools have the right that schools may not discriminate against their children by teaching them that they are or will be oppressed or destined to be oppressors on the basis of their race or national origin.”
Jeff Landry, who was then Attorney General of Louisiana, spoke at a Subcommittee on Federal Weaponization hearing on Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Landry directed Brumley to continually review rules, bulletins, regulations, contracts and policies within the Department of Education and take steps to eliminate or, as appropriate, report to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education any material that supports the theory that “individuals, because of their race or sex, whether consciously or unconsciously, are inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.”
Notebooks and pencils on a desk in a school classroom (iStock)
Brumley, who has served as state superintendent since 2020, is also instructed to report content that promotes the belief that “an individual's moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex” or that “individuals, because of their race or sex, are responsible for past acts committed by others of the same race or sex.”
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The order prohibits materials that claim “traits such as meritocracy and a strong work ethic are racist or sexist, or that are designed to oppress one race or sex against another,” as well as materials that “encourage students to discriminate against anyone on the basis of an individual's color, creed, race, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, national origin, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law.”
