Teach the ‘good’ of slavery in schools? Louisiana state lawmaker backtracks on comment
Criticism was swift after a Louisiana state lawmaker suggested that the “good” and “bad” of slavery be taught in schools.
Rep. Ray Garofalo, a Republican, made his comments during a hearing Tuesday to discuss legislation that would ban “divisive concepts” such as racism and sexism from classrooms, according to Business Insider.
Garofalo, the bill’s sponsor and chair of the state House Education Committee, said the legislation was intended to keep “politics out of the classroom” and “prevent the teaching of opinions as fact.”
“If you’re having a discussion on slavery, then you can talk about everything dealing with slavery: the good, the bad, the ugly,” he told committee members Tuesday, video shows.
His remark was quickly rejected by fellow GOP lawmaker Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, of New Orleans.
“There’s no good to slavery, though,” Hilferty said, eliciting a chorus of laughs from the audience.
Garofalo attempted to clarify: “You’re right. I didn’t mean to imply that and I don’t believe that and I know that that’s the case. But I’m using that ‘good, bad, and ugly’ as a generic way of saying that you can teach any facts, any factually-based anything, regardless.”
Garofalo’s bill, HB564, was one of several similar proposals introduced across the country in direct response to Critical Race Theory, according to the Associated Press. The American Bar Association defines the theory as instruction that explores and “critiques how the social construction of race and institutionalized racism perpetuate a racial caste system that relegates people of color to the bottom tiers.”
“CRT also recognizes that race intersects with other identities, including sexuality,” it says, “... and acknowledges that the legacy of slavery, segregation and the imposition of second-class citizenship ... continue to permeate the social fabric of this nation.”
Under the proposed bill, certain concepts related to race and sex would be barred from the classroom curriculum. That includes the idea that the U.S. or state of Louisiana are “fundamentally, institutionally or systemically racist or sexist” and that an individual should be held responsible for past actions committed by members of the same race.
Teaching about so-called “race scapegoating,” or the idea that members of one race are “inherently racist or inherently inclined to oppress others,” would also be banned, according to the bill.
Educators caught discussing such concepts would face punishments ranging from a written reprimand to termination if the bill had passed.
Garofalo’s bill received push back from fellow lawmakers and state educators who said it could have required teachers to teach revisionist history.
“As a history teacher, that presents a problem for me because there are many instances in Louisiana and the United States where there was institutionalized racism,” former Louisiana Teacher of the Year Chris Dier told WDSU. “And that history belongs in the classroom.”
Democratic Rep. Gary Carter called it “a bad bill.”
Garofalo willingly withdrew the legislation following Tuesday’s hearing, though lawmakers said they’re open to discussing the issue in the future, WAFB reported.
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Teach the ‘good’ of slavery in schools? Louisiana state lawmaker backtracks on comment."