ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders was sworn in as the next governor of the Natural State on Tuesday, effectively making history as the first woman governor.
She stated throughout her campaign that one of her goals as governor was to spotlight education in the state, particularly by enacting multiple executive orders covering everything from banning TikTok on government devices to implementing measures to "strengthen workforce development."
One of those executive orders aims to prohibit the "political indoctrination" of Arkansas schoolchildren by combating the teaching of critical race theory in schools.
Critical race theory discussion purportedly began in the 1970s and 1980s and centered around the topic of the inherent racial bias prevalent within U.S. society, and more specifically the U.S. government.
"If you're going to say that racism can't be discussed, or critical race theory cannot be in civics or any type of history courses, you're saying that racism did not exist in America and does not exist in America," says University of South Florida Education Professor Dana Thompson Dorsey.
Dorsey goes on to say that "You're going to be miseducating students... and not allowing them to learn the real history of the United States of America."
In examining the role of race and racism in the history of America, many lawmakers across the nation have found issues with the critical conclusions that are reached, at times leading to attempts to ban the teaching of the subject across the U.S.
It is this subject that Sanders has labeled as an "indoctrination" that she intends to "root out" with day-one executive orders.
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