Mississippi Democrats walk out of Senate over bill prohibiting the teaching of Critical Race Theory

Black lawmakers of the Mississippi state legislature walked out in protest on Friday over a bill passed in the Senate that would ban schools from teaching critical race theory. Those who walked out withheld their votes on the piece of legislation. 

The walkout followed a two-hour debate when Democratic lawmakers asked whether or not Critical Race Theory (CRT), which centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people in society, is actually taught in Mississippi schools.

Republicans of the state have claimed that the theory teaches “victimhood,” but Democrats say the bill would squelch the productive discussion of the state’s racist history.

“This bill is not morally right,” said Democratic Sen. Barbara Blackmon of Canton during debate over the bill. Blackmon is one of the black lawmakers of the state. The state superintendent of education has so far said that critical race theory is not currently being taught in Mississippi schools. 

Republican Sen. Michael McLendon of Hernando is the bill’s primary sponsor, and he said that hundreds of constituents have contacted him to let him know they’re aware of the theory and do not want it taught to their children in the classroom.

Although McLendon did not give a straightforward definition of critical race theory, he did note that “Systematic racism should not be taught to our children.”

McLendon asserted that Senate Bill 2113 “is not changing anything about our past,” saying that “all this bill says is that no child shall be told they’re superior or inferior to one another.”

Democratic Senator David Jordan, who taught in Mississippi schools for 33 years – 13 of which he taught in segregated schools, according to CNN – said the bill was a “waste of time.”

“If anybody is suffering from racism it is people of color and we feel we don’t need this bill … We are satisfied without it. What do you need it for? We have been the victims of it,” he said during his remarks.

According to NPR, critical race theory is “an academic framework that examines how racism has shaped public policy and institutions such as the legal system, and how those have perpetuated the dominance of white people in society.” 

Mississippi is hardly the first state to ban or limit the teaching of critical race theory or other comparable concepts through laws or administrative actions. Florida, Oklahoma, and Tennessee are among the states that have legislatively ditched the curriculum. While the Mississippi bill passed the Senate 32-2, it will now move to the House for more work.