‘Stay out of the classroom’: Educators rally against Ohio bills they say ‘whitewash’ history

Educators rallied Saturday at Waterworth Memorial Park in a renewed push to protest Ohio House bills 322 and 327, which they say would prevent Ohio students from learning crucial facts about America’s history of racism and oppression.

They discussed how they educate about racism, slavery and the so-called “divisive” concepts that the Republican-sponsored bills seek to outlaw.

Heather Smith, a Youngstown City Schools teacher, said Saturday she thinks legislators need to “stay out of the classroom” and let teachers teach without the restrictions that the bills would bring.

Smith said the goal of the rally was to speak up and let people think for themselves. She said the bills were introduced because America’s history of slavery and institutionalized racism make “white people feel uncomfortable about the past events.”

Smith said the answer to such situations is not to “whitewash” history, but to allow teachers to teach the current happenings and relevant parts of history so students may learn from them.

“As a dedicated educator, I pledge to teach the truth, no matter what lawmakers say, and I urge other educators to do the same,” she said.

Smith urged parents to oppose HB 322 and HB 327 by writing to state representatives and letting them know “you stand with the teachers who pledge to ‘teach the truth.’”

What the bills would do

As of Monday, a dozen states have live bills aimed at blocking curriculum on race, gender or sexuality in public K-12 schools, according to PEN America — including three in Ohio.

House Bill 322

According to HB 322’s language, it would bar Ohio public school teachers from instructing on several “prohibited concepts” — like teaching that one race or sex is “inherently superior”; that people are “inherently racist, sexist or oppressive” due to their race or sex; or that people should “feel discomfort, guilt [or] anguish” on account of their race or sex.

It would also require teachers to show American slavery and racism as “deviations from” or “betrayals of” the nation’s founding principles including “liberty and equality.”

“Simply, students should not anguish over, nor feel bad about who they are,” sponsoring state Rep. Don Jones of Freeport, R-95th, wrote in his House committee testimony. “And no child should be told that ‘X’ race did ‘Y’ and you’re a member of ‘X,’ therefore you are bad as well.

“Whether these points of indoctrination are referred to as divisive concepts, critical race theory, or whatever else may be out there, at the end of the day the name doesn’t matter. Indoctrination is indoctrination.”

Critical race theory centers around the concept that racism is systemic in U.S. institutions.

The bill would also lift requirements for teachers to discuss current events or “controversial’ public policy or social affairs with students, unless they look at them “from diverse and contending perspectives.” It would also keep schools from requiring students to advocate for policy, or crediting them for the work.

Schools wouldn’t be able to receive private funding to develop curriculum or teacher training. They also wouldn’t be able to teach employees “to adopt or believe in” any of the specified concepts.

House Bill 327

HB 327 applies many of the same provisions to state agencies and universities as well. It also prohibits employees from being punished for their “refusal to support” concepts considered “divisive” and allows funding to be withheld from noncompliant districts.

“The promotion of concepts that hold our 7-, 8- and 9-year-old children responsible for the crimes of past generations goes against everything our nation stands for,” wrote sponsoring state Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur of Ashtabula, R-99th, in her House committee testimony. “It is an unconscionable perversion that any child should be held personally responsible for the sins of their father, or a group of individuals in the past. We are a nation founded on individual responsibility, individual accountability, and individual accomplishment and failure.”

House Bill 616

HB 616, introduced in April by Valley state Rep. Mike Loychik of Bazetta, R-63rd, and Rep. Jean Schmidt of Loveland, R-65th, would prohibit sexual orientation and gender identity training and materials from kindergarten through third-grade classrooms in all public and most private schools. Sexual orientation or gender identity education for higher grades would be required to be “age-appropriate.”

It also includes language banning “racist” or “divisive” concepts from schools.

“This bill is designed to protect parental rights and protect children from indoctrination,” reads Loychik’s sponsor testimony submitted earlier this month. “When I send my child to kindergarten I want him to be learning his ABCs not the birds and the bees. I think a great many parents stand with me in wanting the same. We must put safeguards in place to ensure that our children are receiving a fair, unbiased, and age appropriate education.”

‘Every time we turn our heads the other way’

Rally attendee Penny Wells is the executive director of the nonprofit Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, which coordinates field trips for local students, immersing them in the history of the American civil rights movement.

Wells said she thinks Americans need to acknowledge what they did in the past to people of color was wrong, and that it’s Americans’ responsibility to teach students about it.

“When Black people returned from World War II, we had a GI Bill that allowed many white Americans to attend college [and] enabled them to purchase houses. Most Black men were unable to take advantage of the GI Bill because the funds were administered by the states and favored whites over Blacks,” she said.

The Rev. Monica Beasley-Martin, elder of Sheridan African Methodist Episcopal Church in East Liverpool, recalled the words of the late Sen. Bobby Kennedy:

“Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.”

On Saturday, Beasley-Martin prayed for those brave enough to take action against the bills, which she termed “unjust,” “immoral” and “illegal,” and prayed for the bills’ defeat or withdrawal.

HB 327, if passed, could affect what Brittany Bailey learns as a student at Youngstown State University. She said many history assignments have required her to examine concepts she found uncomfortable.

But she said she was grateful because they helped her understand that not everyone lives the same life and that understanding the true history of the country is critical to understanding why the country functions the way it does.

“No school district will allow students to take courses that teach history or government that focus on diversity or controversial issues, and that will mean that I and a whole bunch of other students would not have gotten credit for Sojourn to the Past,” Bailey said.

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Mahoning Matters staff contributed to this report.

[Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Rev. Monica Beasley-Martin is still actively affiliated with Sheridan African Methodist Episcopal Church.]

This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.