Arkansas' new governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order on her first day in office banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools.
Sanders, who previously served as President Trump's White House Press Secretary, is Arkansas' first female governor and the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee. On Tuesday, she signed multiple executive orders, including an "Executive Order to Prohibit Indoctrination and Critical Race Theory in Schools."
"CRT, discrimination, and indoctrination have no place in Arkansas classrooms," the order states.
"Critical Race Theory (CRT) is antithetical to the traditional American values of neutrality, equality, and fairness. It emphasizes skin color as a person's primary characteristic, thereby resurrecting segregationist values, which America has fought so hard to reject," it added.
"Government policies must empower parents to make decisions for their children and foster curriculum transparency in classrooms across the state."
As reported by The Christian Post, the order also calls on the secretary of the state's Department of Education to assess all materials and "identify any items that may, purposely or otherwise, promote teaching that would indoctrinate students with ideologies, such as CRT, that conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law or encourage students to discriminate against someone."
"The Secretary is further instructed that if any items are found to conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law, then the Secretary is instructed to amend, annul, or alter those rules, regulations, policies, materials, or communications to remove the prohibited indoctrination," the order continued.
Sander's executive order does not forbid "the discussion of ideas and history of the concepts," including CRT, or "prohibit the discussion of public policy issues of the day and related ideas that individuals may find unwelcome, disagreeable or offensive."
The Arkansas Democratic Party expressed concern over Sander's executive order on CRT while also commending her other plans to increase teacher salaries and expand preschool.
"The beginning of Governor Sanders's term will also be remembered for attacking Arkansas schools for 'indoctrination,' a charge she has repeatedly levied against Arkansas teachers," the party said in a statement.
"Arkansas Democrats stand with our teachers and know they are first and foremost much too busy grading papers, buying their own supplies, and making lesson plans to indoctrinate anyone."
Sanders signed several other executive orders, including one that paused the hiring of new state employees, another that decreased government regulations and an order requiring the use of terms such as "Latino," "Latina" and "Hispanic" over "Latinx."
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
