Educator expresses concern about Tennessee legislation banning Critical Race Theory in schools.

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As various state governments continue to adapt to the increasingly polarized political landscape, legislation enacting strict new regulation continues to pass around the Nation. In Tennessee, book burnings and bans of literature from libraries and schools continue. Greg Locke, a controversial pastor in Tennessee went live on Facebook and burned books that he and his churchgoers deemed “demonic”, like Harry Potter. In Late January At Tennessee school board banned the Pulitzer Prize winning Graphic Novel Maus documenting the horrors of the Holocaust for Its use of the word damn.

As these stories continue and new censorship legislation continues to be passes across the US, some educators are increasingly concerned. The Tennessee Legislature passed SB 0623/Hb 0580 making changes to various education systems within the state. Including a ban on the teaching of Critical Race Theory.

Critical race theory is a multidisciplinary study of the system racial issues that plague the US. The Tennessee stature expressly forbids teachers from teaching students about white privilege. As well as the idea that there are fundamental racist problems within the state. The Tennessee law includes a provision for the impartial discussion of controversial aspects of history but fails to define controversial. Similar laws have been enacted in seven other states but were successfully challenged in two. Additionally, 15 other states have new legislation or policies that may restrict the use of Critical Race theory.

While The Tennessee statute is  not specifically aimed at Colleges, Southwest Tennessee Community College has a substantial population of dual enrollment students who simultaneously attend college and high school.

Sean Bradley an Instructor of Sociology at Southwest discusses his concerns a social scientist, an instructor and citizen of Tennessee. Mr. Bradley teaches both Introduction to Sociology and Social Problems, both of which continue a substantial section on Critical Race Theory and Its related topics like Critical Feminist Theory. Mr. Bradley speaks out in the podcast on the chilling effect of the law and the Concerns he faces as an instructor in a discipline that often uses Critical Race Theory to examine the Ills of society.