Opinion: Idaho Legislature is misguided in bill that aims to ban critical race theory

Idaho just passed a law regarding critical race theory that disappoints and saddens me. I am an educator. I am an Idahoan, though I have not lived there for several years.

I am a white father in a family of seven, the other six of whom are Black or biracial. House Bill 377 feels like a personal attack.

It feels like Idaho is sending a message that families like mine are not welcome to come back, though I believe that was not the intent.

Regardless of intent, this bill will silence Black perspectives. It was passed by a legislature with one Black representative in a state with less than a 1% Black population. Representation matters. Diverse perspectives matter.

The bill does not ban teaching critical race theory, as it has sometimes been portrayed.

It directs that no education in Idaho, “shall direct or otherwise compel students to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to any of the following tenets:...”

As an educator, I wholeheartedly agree that education should never direct or compel students to adhere to anything. I also applaud the first section of the bill that states the intent that education should, “respect the dignity of others, acknowledge the right of others to express differing opinions, and foster and defend intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiry and instruction, and freedom of speech and association.”

The bill violates its own intent.

My concern is that we have something after that colon above, that lawmakers deliberately identified a particular academic idea as a threat to shared values, and that decision involved zero Black representation.

Idaho’s lieutenant governor, speaking about critical race theory, stated, “this is one of the most significant threats facing our society today. We must find where these insidious theories and philosophies are lurking and excise them from our education system.”

Academic thoughts, even those we may not agree with, are not threats, and they are certainly not the most significant threats facing our society. Government should not be in the business of excising theories and philosophies from education, and I hope that conservatives would stand by that principle. Government can regulate behavior when needed; it must never regulate thought.

I am most concerned with the following passage in the bill:

“The Idaho legislature finds that tenets…often found in ‘critical race theory,’ …exacerbate and inflame divisions on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, or other criteria in ways contrary to the unity of the nation and the well-being of the state of Idaho and its citizens.”

The legislature is passing judgment on what thoughts might be contrary to the unity of a nation.

I am astounded that conservatives would lead such an effort of government intrusion on public thought.

The legislature is assuming or asserting that one particular academic idea (one that is meaningful and important to Black Americans) undermines shared principles. That is a mischaracterization at best, blatant racism at worst, and in my opinion fear-mongering and threatening freedom of expression based on misinformation.

Even if people are not legally restricted from teaching critical race theory, this bill will clearly send the message that ideas valuable to Black Americans are dangerous, unwanted, and likely to be considering directing or compelling students in unlawful ways.

This is silencing Black perspectives where Idaho already has a desperate undersupply.

Christopher Culver is a graduate of Fruitland High School and distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he is an assistant professor of political science. He holds a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Ph.D. in political science from Pennsylvania State University. The views and opinions in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the Department of Defense or the United States Air Force Academy.