House Bill 1496

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE INSTRUCTION OF "CRITICAL RACE THEORY" IN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING; TO PRESCRIBE THE TENETS OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED IN PUBLIC EDUCATION; TO PROVIDE THAT THIS ACT SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED TO PROHIBIT THE REQUIRED COLLECTION OR REPORTING OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS; TO PROHIBIT THE EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, ANY OF ITS SUBSIDIARY DIVISIONS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS OR STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING FOR PURPOSES PROHIBITED BY TITLE 37, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972; TO PROVIDE FOR THE SEVERABILITY OF PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT DEEMED TO BE LAWFULLY INVALID; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that administrators, faculty members, other employees, and students at public schools, including public charter schools and state institutions of higher learning, 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.

(2) The Mississippi Legislature finds that tenets outlined in subsection (3)(a) of this section, often found in "critical race theory," undermined the objectives outlined in subsection (1) of this section and 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 Mississippi and its citizens.

(3) (a) No state institution of higher education, public school district, or public school, including a public charter school, shall direct or otherwise compel students to personally affirm, adopt or adhere to any of the following tenets:

(i) That any sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin is inherently superior or inferior;

(ii) That individuals should be adversely treated on the basis of their sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin; or

(iii) That individuals, by virtue of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin, are inherently responsible for the actions committed in the past by other members of the same sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin.

(b) No distinction or classification of students shall be made on account of race or color.

(c) No course of instruction or unit of study directing or otherwise compelling students to personally affirm, adopt or adhere to any of the tenets identified in paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be used or introduced in any state institution of higher education, any public school district or any public school, including a public charter school.

(4) Nothing in this section should be construed to prohibit the required collection or reporting of demographic data by public schools or state institutions of higher learning.

SECTION 2. No monies shall be expended by the State Board of Education, any entity under the board's jurisdiction, or any school district, public charter school or state institution of higher learning for any purpose prohibited in Title 37, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 3. The provisions of this act are hereby declared to be severable, and if any provision of this act or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid for any reason, such declaration shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this act.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.