LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — (Editor's Note: The attached video is a report from July 2021.)
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a statement that teaching Critical Race Theory in Arkansas schools teaches children to "judge people based on skin color and sex."
Developed in the 1970s and '80s, critical race theory focuses on the idea that racism is systemic in America's institutions and "they function to maintain the dominance of white people in society."
Rutledge called the teaching a "neo-Marxist ideology that distorts and rewrites history" in an opinion released Monday, Aug. 16.
The attorney general also said that the teaching of critical race theory is discrimination that violates Title VI and the Arkansas Constitution.
“The classroom isn’t a place to promote extremist political ideologies and preach discrimination. When schools allow the classification of children based on race, they violate both state and federal law.”
In July, US Senator Tom Cotton introduced the Stop CRT Act, a bill that would stop federal funds from being sent to schools that teach critical race theory.
Cotton added the amendment to the budget reconciliation package, which passed in a 50-49 vote on Aug. 10.
"Sadly, today some want to replace our Founding principles with an un-American ideology called Critical Race Theory," Cotton said.
"They want to teach our children that America is not a good nation but a racist nation. Those teachings are wrong and our tax dollars should not support them."
Cotton compared critical race theory in the United States to "nothing more than state-sanctioned racism."
In a statement released Tuesday, July 14, Cotton asked "Why should this poisonous, neo-Marxist ideology be funded by the federal government?"