Idaho Just Made It Illegal To Teach “Critical Race Theory”

A new law takes aim at content deemed to “exacerbate and inflame divisions”

On Wednesday afternoon, Idaho’s Republican governor Brad Little signed a bill into law that takes aim at what it calls “critical race theory.” Framing itself as a law to promote “dignity and nondiscrimination,” House Bill 377 makes it a crime for public educators—including at the university level—to promote the idea “that individuals, by virtue of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, or national origin, are inherently responsible for actions committed in the past by other members of the same sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, or national origin.”

According to HB 377, this kind of content is “often found in ‘critical race theory,’” which it accuses of exacerbating and enflaming divisions in a way that is “contrary to the unity of the nation and the well-being of the state of Idaho and its citizens.” The wording of the law echoes an executive order issued by Donald Trump in September 2020, which banned federal agencies from funding any diversity training deemed to contain “divisive concepts” such as “race or sex stereotyping” and “race or sex scapegoating.” In addition, as of this writing, similar measures are making their way through the Oklahoma and Missouri state legislatures.