The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission ousted Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) as a member over his ban on critical race theory in public schools.
The story: The commission, which was established to commemorate the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, said it met last week on Tuesday and “agreed through consensus” to cut ties with the governor, who was an honorary member. The group announced the decision on Friday.
“Elected officials, nor representatives of elected officials, were involved in this decision. While the Commission is disheartened to part ways with Governor Stitt, we are thankful for the things accomplished together. The Commission remains focused on lifting up the story of Black Wall Street and commemorating the Centennial,” said the Centennial Commission in a statement, KFOR-TV reports.
Worth noting: The commission previously suggested to Stitt that he can resign his seat and criticized the governor’s move to sign the bill that bans critical race theory in classrooms.
“The Centennial Commission feels that your signature on the bill at this critical time when Oklahoma should embrace its history is diametrically opposite to the mission of the Centennial Commission and reflects your desire to end your affiliation,” the Centennial Commission Project Director Phil Armstrong, told Stitt in a letter last week.
“If you would like to contact us to discuss this further, please do so immediately. If we do not hear back from you, we will consider your lack of response as a further disavowal of the stated goals of the Centennial Commission and an official resignation from its membership,” he added.
The legislation, House Bill 1775, prohibits the inclusion of critical race theory in Oklahoma’s public school curriculum. The bill does not refer to critical race theory but bans certain concepts that are part of it, such as teaching students that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex.”
School employees also aren’t allowed to include claims in the curriculum that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.”
The bill further prevents schools from teaching students that “meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race to oppress members of another race” or that “any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex.”
Stitt’s response: The governor told Fox News on Sunday that signing the legislation into law was “a no brainer.”
“The bill that we signed, If you read it, it simply says that we’re not going to say in our schools in Oklahoma that one race is superior to another race, and I’m not going to teach a first-grader that just because of the color of their skin that they’re an oppressor or somehow should feel guilty about something that happened 100 years ago,” he said.
“The left is just trying to politicize this. It is a no-brainer. Read the bill,” he added. “I think 80%, 90% of Americans agree with what we’re talking about. We shouldn’t be teaching political activism in our public school system and In Oklahoma, we banned that from happening.”
His office issued a separate statement on Friday.
“It is disappointing to see an organization of such importance spend so much effort to sow division based on falsehoods and political rhetoric two weeks before the centennial and a month before the commission is scheduled to sunset,” the statement read.
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