South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem might not be the most rock-ribbed of conservatives (remember when she backed down to the leftists on the transgender sports issue?), but even she has licked her finder, stuck it in the wind, realized which way the wind is blowing, and hopped aboard the anti-CRT train.
She, according to a recent report in Fox News, recently decided to sign into law an executive order curtailing critical race theory in South Dakota state schools. As that outlet reports:
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday signed an executive order she said was aimed at banning the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 state schools.
The order tasks the state Department of Education with checking educational materials for “divisive concepts” based on race.
Governor Noem, in a statement on the executive order, what it will do, and why it is necessary, said:
“Political indoctrination has no place in our classrooms. Our children will not be taught that they are racists or that they are victims and they will not be compelled to feel responsible for the mistakes of their ancestors. We will guarantee that our students learn America’s true and honest history – that includes both our triumphs and our mistakes.”
She also released a video on the executive order, posting it on Twitter:
Critical Race Theory has no place in our South Dakota public education.
That’s why yesterday I announced I will be signing an executive order to ban the teachings in our K-12 schools. pic.twitter.com/nPYye6E4oT
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 5, 2022
As you can hear in the video, Governor Noem said that:
“I brought two bills this legislative session that banned Critical Race Theory from being taught in our classrooms, in our K-12 schools and another one that banned it in our universities.
“The legislature supported and passed it and I signed into law the university one. So now, in South Dakota going forward, Critical Race Theory cannot be taught in our universities. They killed the K-12 one. So tomorrow, I will be signing an executive order to make sure that Critical Race Theory is not taught in our public school systems, too,”
The Executive Order itself describes CRT as an ideology that compels people to look at everything through a “purely racial lens,” stating that:
“[CRT] compels students to view the world through a purely racial lens and to judge others based on the color of their skin rather than the content of their character. The inherently divisive concepts that underlay Critical Race Theory have no place in our classrooms.”
The executive order also defines what concepts are “inherently divisive” as “ideas in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” That would include claims that anything like race or gender makes someone superior or, as is relevant to the context of the CRT discussion, inherently racist. such as claims that an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity or national origin make them inherently superior or inherently racist.
To stop the spread of such “inherently divisive concepts”, the executive order prevents South Dakota’s Department of Education from compelling its employees to “personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to” those concepts and makes the South Dakota Board of Education ensure that the content taught doesn’t include such concepts.
In signing such an executive order, Governor Noem is joining many of her more conservative colleagues. Daily Wire, reporting on that, notes that:
At least 15 other states have signed bans or executive orders to limit or prohibit CRT in public school classrooms as of March, according to ABC News. Mississippi became one of the most recent states, with Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signing SB 2113 into law on March 14.
It would have been preferable for the decision to be a bill, but the South Dakota legislature wouldn’t pass one, so an EO will have to be good enough.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
This story syndicated with permission from Will, Author at Trending Politics