With an emphasis on continuing education, The New York City Bar Association (NYCBA) is hosting events in early 2024, such as “Book Bans and ‘Divisive Concepts’ Censorship Efforts in K-12 Schools Across the US-The Current State of Law and Implications.” Passed by 17 states nationwide, divisive concept laws aim to limit workplace and classroom discussion on topics related to gender, race, equity, and discrimination.
Within the classroom, such laws grant parents the right to file complaints when they feel that the teacher’s instruction violates divisive concepts laws. As the School Superintendents Association frames it, this effectively silences discussion on important issues regarding race and its legacy across US history. Among the topics that are commonly prohibited are those that delve into US policies that resulted in the dismantling of many Native American cultures and the legacy of slavery and its inequities in American society. In addition to suppressing instruction, such laws encourage perpetuating viewpoints that distort or ignore the historical record. These laws take their form from a federal Executive Order passed in September 2020 that forbids diversity training that could be construed as divisive. The NYCBA event also looks at a troubling trend of efforts to ban or remove specific books on a wide range of topics, from gender identity to racism, from public school classrooms and libraries.
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AuthorDyan Gershman, Founder and Partner of Gershman Law, PLLC. Archives
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