Black Community Leaders Weigh In On Bill Banning Diversity Training Requirement At State Universities

A group of 10 African American clergy and community leaders met with the governor Wednesday due to their concerns about House Bill 1775.

Thursday, May 6th 2021, 5:33 pm



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A group of 10 African American clergy and community leaders met with the governor Wednesday due to their concerns about House Bill 1775.

Dr. Sharri Coleman was in attendance and is also an African American studies professor. 

She said that the bill itself will create the problems it seeks to resolve, and she said she explained as much to Gov. Kevin Stitt.

“The question, even in the meeting yesterday, was about people feeling guilty, about white children feeling guilty. But, if you do what you need to do in A1 of the bill, and actually have diversity training, that means every teacher coming into the classroom will have an understanding how this information might affect every culture,” Coleman said. 

Coleman is concerned that allowing the next generation of teachers to opt-out of gender and diversity trainings will cause the problems in K-12 schools that House Bill 1775 seeks to prevent.

Section A 1. said higher education students shall not be “required to engage in any mandatory gender or sexual diversity training…”

The remaining text of HB 1775 details the concepts that legislatures want to bar from K-12 schools, including that one’s race or sex is inherently superior, and that an individual is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive due to their race.

The list continues with similar concerns, but Coleman said they all could be avoided by teaching cultural awareness.

“It is this whole idea of erasing other people’s experiences. I can’t teach that my race is any better than yours, but what we all need to do when we come to the table is have empathy and listen,” she said. 

She said when teachers show up to work without the skills to empathize with people of other races and backgrounds, students of all races may end up very uncomfortable.

“The bill is horrible, and it’s pointless, and that’s about it,” Coleman said. 

The group of African American community leaders who met with the governor on Wednesday are planning a collective response to the bill, regardless of whether the governor signs it Friday.

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