Students and faculty of color in the state of Alabama are under attack. Senate Bill 129 is a part of the Alabama Senate’s agenda to silence Black voices and bury our history.
The bill was sponsored by 20 Republicans and passed Committee 7 to 3. This new bill, titled “Divisive Concepts” seeks to end programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts made by universities, colleges and state agencies. People of color, students and HBCU faculty, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community could all be affected if the bill is passed and signed by the governor.
A few things to dive into about DEI before moving forward. The definition of diversity is the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc. Equity is quite simply the act of “being fair,” it allows the playing field to be even whether it is in the workplace or any other setting. Finally, inclusion is self-explanatory by being the practice of including everyone. Now, one may think, “Why would anyone want to intrude upon these things and take them away from the people?” Imagine the extensive, dramatic sigh I let out after reading eight pages of the Senate’s attempt to justify why we should get rid of “divisive concepts.”
The part that offended me was that this bill prohibits penalizing “…a student, employee, or contractor on the basis of his or her refusal to support… a divisive concept or diversity statement.” Although, of course, the First Amendment gives us freedom of speech, I am sure that the Founding Fathers did not intend to promote hate speech. A great example would be schools. Children are very impressionable so what happens when a child comes to school spouting hateful things that they learned from home? As educators, are they not allowed to show them the error of their ways and redirect their thinking? No, they are not. The Senate would rather promote those same hateful ideas, but they cannot do that unless they take away the implementation of “divisive concepts.”
It is no secret that after Trump’s presidency, the U.S. Supreme Court and Southern government officials have begun taking steps that could send us back to the Dark Ages. Creating laws against same-sex marriage, abortion and now diversity, could strip America of its “Land of the Free” title … (maybe we will be renamed “Land of the Moderately Free?”).
SB129 makes it clear that its purpose is to stop the burning wildfire of what the majority refers to as “wokeness.” To summarize, it prohibits government agencies and public college campuses from funding groups that promote diversity and forces them to close down any offices that deal with DEI agendas. It also prohibits diversity training and any program that forces one to attend any events of the sort. This could pose a huge threat to Black History Month and any events associated. State Sen. Rodger Smitherman said, “The history we’re making in Black History Month is that we’re going to take opportunity away from Black folks”. He is a Democratic senator for the state of Alabama who voted against SB129.
Sen. Smitherman is not the only government official who has a lot to say about SB129. The mayor of Birmingham, Randall Woodfin, took to Facebook Wednesday, Feb. 21 to announce to his audience that if this bill passes, he strongly encourages African American student-athletes to avoid attending colleges in Alabama. “If supporting inclusion becomes illegal in this state…you might as well stand in front of the school door like Governor Wallace,” Mayor Woodfin continued. In my opinion, I believe that our athletes should choose other institrutions regardless. I have heard plenty of instances where African American students at the University of Alabama or Auburn University have unfortunately had many racist encounters.
African-Americans make up 26.5% of the state’s demographics which is over six times the demographic of other minorities. Data shows that in 2022, there were 142 cases of reported hate crime incidents. This does not account for the total 244 cases that also included hate crimes based on gender, gender identity, religion and sexuality. Lawmakers are supposed to protect the people and secure their rights to be themselves. SB129is the work of a corrupt government that only cares about the majority. This is why it is critical for not only the people who are affected, but also the people who support DEI progression to vote. They can only do what we allow them to. By voting the right people into our offices, we can put and end to SB129 and any bills similar.
Conclusively, SB129 is a serious threat to everyone. It is a form of censorship and apart of an agenda to try and silence those who are not apart of the agenda. Why do we have to be quiet about our beliefs when it comes to diversity? We should be able to be open about or struggles and teach others so that we can continue making an effort to put an end to racial injustice. For those apart of the LGBTQIA+ community, they deserve rights as well. Why should they be forced into a box when everyone else gets to live their truth? SB129 is hateful, offensive and bigoted. We should not silence those who have fought tremendously to have a voice.