A group of professors and students filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against a comparatively recent Alabama law that forbids public schools and universities from funding variety, equity, and inclusion programs.
University of Alabama faculty University of Alabama at Birmingham kids joined forces with the Alabama-based NAACP to file a lawsuit against Governor. SB 129, which became law next October, was signed by Alabama University directors, Jay Ivey and.
The law forbids people K-12 institutions from making a student or worker personally agree to a “divisive concept,” such as white privilege, or require their attendance at a required DEI factory.
The policy, SB 129, defines “divisive concepts” as arguments” that individuals may be discriminated against or severely treated because of their race, color, religion or intercourse” or that” the spiritual character of an entity is determined by his or her race, race or national origin”.
The lawsuit also complains about the state’s closure of DEI offices and claims that the law essentially restricts instruction in “divisive concepts”
The lawsuit claims that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution zealously protects the freedom to teach, the freedom to learn, and the freedom for students to participate in rich extracurricular activities without censorship of their viewpoints.
According to AL.com, the lawsuit asserts that the three UA professors who are plaintiffs have either specifically received threats of discipline from university administrators for alleged noncompliance with SB 129 or have been in the fear of being found guilty of violating the law if they do not change their curriculum to avoid particular viewpoints.
” They have cancelled class projects, changed curriculum, and elected not to teach certain classes as a result of SB 129″.
A” social work professor” was threatened with being fired unless she canceled a class project where students had decided to examine the potential negative effects of the new state law, according to U.S. News & World Report. According to a professor of political science, university officials informed her that her course on poverty might be in violation of the law because it appeared to concentrate on understanding systematic racism.
Sydney Testman, a black college student and plaintiff, said” I’ve seen firsthand how the removal of initiatives for diversity, equity, and inclusion has harmed the sense of belonging and the quality of education on campus”, according to ABC news.
As , The College Fix , previously reported, the bill had sparked anger among Democrats and some students,  , sparking , petitions and protests. Some even advised student athletes to stay away from Alabama’s universities.
MORE: U. Alabama faculty claim state anti-DE I law restricts how they can respond to racism
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