ACLU, state educators file federal lawsuit challenging Oklahoma House Bill 1775

Filed in the Western District of Oklahoma by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the lawsuit claims that House Bill 1775 violates the First and 14th amendments.

As adopted earlier this year, HB 1775 bans teaching that one race or gender is inherently superior. It also prohibits causing a student to feel guilty or uncomfortable because of their race or gender, as well as teaching that anyone is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or otherwise.

Additionally, the measure bars the state’s colleges and universities from requiring its students to participate in diversity training.

The text of the measure does not include the phrase “critical race theory.” However, many have construed its provisions as a ban on the concept, which argues that many key pillars of American society have been shaped in ways to benefit whites at the expense of minorities, including the judicial system and economy. Oklahoma is one of eight states nationwide to enact legislation on the matter within the last year.

Tuesday’s lawsuit argues that the measure, which took effect this summer, is unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, racially discriminatory and has had a chilling effect on lesson plans.

“HB 1775 is so poorly drafted — in places it is literally indecipherable — that districts and teachers have no way of knowing what concepts and ideas are prohibited,” ACLU staff attorney Emerson Sykes said.

In the suit, the attorneys noted that several school districts have removed multiple books by women and minority authors from their curriculum for fear of running afoul of the law, including Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou and Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.”

The lawsuit also claims that districts have told teachers to avoid certain discussion topics and phrases in their classes in order to be in compliance with the new law, including “white privilege” and “diversity.”

As per the emergency rules adopted by the state Board of Education in July, the state Department of Education can downgrade a school district’s accreditation status and suspend the teaching credentials of anyone found to be violating the terms of HB 1775.

“The act’s vague, overbroad and viewpoint discriminatory provisions leave Oklahoma with an impossible — and unconstitutional — choice: avoid topics related to race or sex in class materials and discussions or risk losing their teaching licenses for violating the law,” the group’s attorneys wrote in the filing.

Along with the Oklahoma State Conference of the NAACP, the plaintiffs includes two public school teachers from Edmond and Oklahoma City Millwood, a high school student, the Black Emergency Response Team at the University of Oklahoma and chapters of the American Indian Movement and the American Association of University Professors on behalf of their members, who are either teachers or parents of students currently attending an Oklahoma educational institution.

Named defendants include state Attorney General John O’Connor, Gov. Kevin Stitt, state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, the members of the state Board of Education, the members of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the members of the board of regents for the University of Oklahoma, Edmond Public Schools Superintendent Angela Grunewald and the members of the board of education for Edmond Public Schools.

A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education declined to comment on the litigation Tuesday evening.

In a tweet Tuesday evening, O’Connor expressed his support for HB 1775 and welcomed the legal challenge.

“The legislature and governor were wise to prevent the teaching of our children that one race is inherently superior to another race or sex,” he tweeted. “I look forward to defending HB1775 against these activists who do not share our Oklahoma values.”

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