Wisconsin lawmaker offers bill to ban teaching of critical race theory in DC schools

A Wisconsin lawmaker on Friday became the latest Republican to offer a measure in opposition to critical race theory, floating a bill seeking to ban the academic framework from Washington, D.C., public schools. 

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) announced the bill in a press release, with the legislation also backed by four co-sponsors: GOP Reps. Ralph Norman (S.C.), Pat Fallon (Texas), Bob Gibbs (Ohio) and Ronny Jackson (Texas). 

The bill comes as GOP-led states have proposed or passed legislation aimed at eliminating critical race theory, which is meant to help students analyze how race and racism has impacted the U.S. throughout history and how current policies and laws can perpetuate systemic racism.

Grothman’s bill, which is unlikely to pass in the Democratic-controlled House, proposes that D.C. public and charter schools be barred from requiring instruction on “ideas that promote race or sex stereotyping or scapegoating,” or that a person “bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.”

Lawmakers have repeatedly attempted to pass bills on D.C. affairs, which they are allowed to do since the nation’s capital is not a state. 

Grothman, who unveiled the bill the same day the federal government for the first time observed Juneteenth as a national holiday, said in a statement, “How can we expect any child to succeed in life when we teach them that the deck is stacked against them and that they will forever be held back by racist oppressors?” 

“In 2019, America naturalized 843,000 citizens. In 2021, we are on pace to have the most people cross the Southern border illegally in more than a decade,” he continued. “America is still seen as the land of opportunity throughout the world as evidenced by the droves of people coming here.” 

“CRT, however, teaches school children that America is a horrible country,” the congressman added, referring to the abbreviation for critical race theory. 

The Wisconsin lawmaker argued that the “purpose of this retelling of American history is to try to set American against American,” calling the theory a “neo-racist ideology” that should “have no place in our public education system, especially in our nation’s capital.” 

The bill has already received backlash from many, including in the nation’s capital, with the D.C. Council’s official Twitter account posting, “Actually, here in DC, we teach Critical *State* Theory.” 

The council, which has been a strong proponent of making D.C. the 51st U.S. state, added, “We are deeply Critical of people elsewhere telling us how to educate our own children in our own soon-to-be State.” 

Actually, here in DC, we teach Critical *State* Theory:
We are deeply Critical of people elsewhere telling us how to educate our own children in our own soon-to-be State. How can they be so presumptuous? We have a Theory… https://t.co/mUqtiLGkQO

— Council of DC (@councilofdc) June 18, 2021

The House in April passed along party lines a bill that seeks to make D.C. statehood official. 

President Biden has backed the bill, and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the legislation next week.