Alabama GOP Passes Bill Targeting Diversity Programs At Public Colleges

“It is allowing our racial ethnicity, and the significance of our skin color, to be slowly stripped away," a local Democrat said.

Alabama’s GOP-led legislature passed a sweeping new measure on Tuesday that would ban state funding for diversity programs at public universities and other government entities, an effort opponents say would undo decades of advancements in civil rights.

Lawmakers in the state Senate overwhelmingly passed the new bill, which, if signed into law, would broadly ban programs that advocate for “divisive concepts.” Public universities, state agencies and local boards of education would not be allowed to use state funding for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs. And the bill would also ban transgender people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identities.

The measure now heads to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk.

Democrats have expressed alarm about the broad language used in the bill, specifically the ban on “divisive concepts.” As written, the measure would ban teaching that links “fault, blame or bias” to any race, religion, gender or nationality. The bill would also bar instruction that a person is “inherently responsible for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, religion, sex ethnicity or national origin.”

Any teacher or employee that violates the bill would be subject to disciplinary action or termination. The bill does note that DEI programs are allowed on campuses as long as no state funds are used to sponsor such programs.