In a recent speech, state Rept. Brandon Lofton voiced opposition to House Bill 324.
In the months since its introduction to state lawmakers, House Bill 324 has proven to be among the most divisive pieces of legislation to come out of the 2021-22 legislative session. Titled Ensuring Dignity and Non-Discrimination/Schools, the bill seeks to establish classroom standards in regards to the curriculum it deems divisive.
While the bill's definition of divisive runs the gamut, discussions about the bill have centered on the merits of teaching American history as it pertains to slavery and the treatment of African American citizens.
Supporters of the bill believe schools should largely stick to non-divisive topics while opponents maintain the good and bad aspects of the country's history should be part of the curriculum. Lofton has recently become one of the most vocal of the latter.
The Mecklenburg County representative made his speech last week.
"I have to speak out against this bill," Lofton said. "This bill, while innocuous sounding enough, encourages us to look away from history, to look away from the truth.
The bill now awaits approval or rejection from Gov. Roy Cooper. Speaking personally about his own family's history with slavery, Lofton argued that legislation like House Bill 324 erases history.
Lofton discussed the reasoning behind his speech in an interview with the Times-News. The text has been edited and condensed for space.
Q: What are your thoughts on House Bill 324?
A: House Bill 324 at first glance appears pretty innocuous, appears harmless. When you read the bill as a whole and you consider what is going on in the bill it is actually very concerning. ... It will encourage us to look away from our history, to ignore both our full history ... and ignore current challenges that we are facing now. That has the impact of ignoring the lessons we have learned in the past and the responsibilities we have to address the problems we have now as a country.
Q: What prompted your speech?
A: The first time it came through the House, I didn't debate it. We as a caucus talked about letting the folks who are in the education committee ... handle the debate and talk about the impact on public schools and teachers.
This time, it just so happened, I spent a couple of weeks doing a little bit of digging into my family history and background. I felt compelled to say something, not just about the history in our schools, which is critical, but from the point of trying to silence our history, ignore aspects of our history, even the ones that are difficult.
Q: You mentioned the Greensboro Four in your speech. Do you think it's possible for students to receive a true understanding of civil rights moments should this bill become law?
A: That's my concern, that is the major concern. If you teach about the Greensboro Four ... if you teach about the various things that happened here during the Civil Rights Movement ... without mentioning why these things happened ... you have to give the full context as to why they were sitting in, why the lawsuits were filed.
Q: During your speech, you highlighted a part of the bill that calls for impartial teaching. Why highlight that?
A: I thought that was particularly disturbing. You look at that piece of the bill where it has different ways to teach different contexts. One of the ways was to have it approved by the state board ... or other exceptions if it discusses racial injustice impartially.
The fact that we would encourage our schools to impartially teach about oppression, I find particularly disturbing and really reveals the harm in this bill.
Q: Why do you think history, as it pertains to anti-blackness, elicits such a strong response from people?
A: Bills like this, efforts to limit discussion of history, breeds ignorance. It ill-equips us to have these conversations because we don't know our history.
Q: Based on your insights as a lawmaker, in your opinion what is the likelihood of this bill becoming a law?
A: I hope it's very small. Obviously, it's passed the House, it's passed the Senate and it will go to the governor. Hopefully, the governor will veto it. My hope is there is little chance it will become law. But even having conversations around it and promoting the false idea that there is indoctrination going on in schools or somehow learning about the full history of our country is somehow harmful, I think that in-and-of-itself is damaging to our nation.
Dean-Paul Stephens covers racial justice. Follow him on Twitter @DeanPEStephens. If you have tips, send an email to dstephens@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Q&A: Following speech that went viral, lawmaker talks slavery, historical truth
