LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky's Democratic leadership is calling on Republican members to stop pushing for a bill they said would censor history.
Senate Bill 138 could ban controversial topics in Kentucky classrooms.
Supporters said it would be called the Teaching American Principles Act and would not restrict impartial teaching of history. But a group of Democrats spoke against it Thursday, saying it does. Going further, they linked it to a topic known nationally as Critical Race Theory and how the next generation of students learn about slavery.
"It's an attempt to abort responsibility with respect to our historical realities, avoid responsibility for the racism that permeates society," Sen. Gerald Neal, D-33, said.
Co-sponsored by Sen. Max Wise, R-16, and Sen. Robby Mills, R-4, the bill would require historical documents, like the Bill of Rights, to be taught in schools. Students would have to study speeches from Abraham Lincoln, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. and Ronald Reagan.
Teachers would be allowed to talk about slavery and segregation laws but have to teach that those things go against "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
The bill has yet to be heard in committee.
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