by Craig Monger
House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville)
Last week, the Alabama House of Representatives passed a Senate bill to abolish state-funded diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, much to the chagrin of Democratic lawmakers.
Senate Bill 129 (SB129) by State Senator Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) would prohibit public entities from “promoting, endorsing, or requiring the affirmation of certain divisive concepts related to race, sex, or religion.”
The legislation would prohibit certain public entities from conditioning enrollment or attendance in certain classes or training on the basis of race or color. However, it would allow those public entities to discipline or terminate employees or contractors who violate the law, while allowing for some circumstances related to accreditation, academic instruction, student groups, and other related scenarios.
The bill sparked a fierce reaction from Democrats in both bodies. In the House, debate dragged on until members finally voted to end discussion on the legislation and quickly move to a vote.
After its passage, members of the House Democratic caucus addressed the media to recap what House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) called “a hellish day.”
“As you know, today the state of Alabama committed a sin,” Daniels said. “By limiting its restrictions to a list of ideas designated as crimes, the law targets content-based speech. Today, the state of Alabama has really set us back. We are at a place where we want people to enjoy the “diversity, equity and inclusion. in our state. We want to attract people to the state of Alabama to live, work and play. But today is another example that we are trying to continue dividing our state.”
“I’m hopeful that organizations will start filing a lawsuit. Even if we have to file a lawsuit on this particular issue, we will do so. But we hope that other organizations will pay close attention to this and start the process of filing a lawsuit,” said. aggregate.
Several House Democrats pointed to the perceived negative economic impact that eliminating DEI programs would have on the state, specifically on universities and college sports programs.
“We know we’re in Alabama, where we thrive on sports,” said State Rep. Barbara Drummond (D-Mobile). “And these young people are inheriting this. “They’re going to look at this and it’s going to be counterproductive for Alabama, not just athletics, but it’s going to be counterproductive as far as economic development.”
Daniels even went so far as to say that the bill would not have been made if Nick Saban had not retired as head coach of the University of Alabama.
Asked if any House members had heard from the NCAA about their concerns about the bill or its effects, Daniels responded: “They’re probably doing their due diligence, trying to find a way to deal with this. “If Nick Saban was still coaching, this bill would never have seen the light of day.”
State Rep. Pebblin Warren (D-Tuskeegee) announced that a statewide ban on DEI could result in the loss of critical federal dollars for schools in her district and across the state.
“There are so many programs that we have to use in our district that are federal programs or are designated for certain sectors of people that if we lose those programs, we can close our schools because we live on federal dollars,” Warren said. “I mean, state dollars are good, but when you look at Title I (and) Title III, those specific programs are what keep us going in the first place; Number two, they are correcting our students’ deficits. And without those programs, we will not be able to survive.”
“When enrollment starts to suffer at flagship institutions, it will send a different message,” Daniels continued. “When we can’t recruit families in the state of Alabama to live and raise their families or even bring them here, then we will consider making changes. It’s like the IVF problem. We have that done quickly because of the outrage and because of the economic side of the issue. It wasn’t because of the problem itself; it was because of the economic impact. And because of that, economics is the only thing they know.”
