Alabama’s Anti-DEI Bill Fits Nicely With Its History of School Segregation

Hello, it’s Claire Suddath and welcome back to the Equality newsletter. This week I’m going to take a closer look at Alabama’s anti-DEI bill, one of more than 30 such proposed bills in states across the U.S. You can subscribe here, and share feedback here. But first...

It’s been a busy week in Alabama. Just days after the state’s Supreme Court granted embryos personhood status (throwing IVF clinics into disarray and sparking federal attempts to protect fertility treatments) , the state Senate also passed a controversial bill barring diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in education.

In short, the bill bans DEI offices at public schools and universities, and prohibits schools from sponsoring programs that are open only to people of a certain race or gender (more on that in a minute) or advocate for what it calls “a divisive concept,” a term found in several similar bills proposed in other states. If the House approves it, Alabama will become the seventh state to pass an anti-DEI bill within the last year.

The bill is, well, hard to understand. If you read the text (which you can here) you’ll find that while disbanding DEI offices seems pretty straightforward, later the bill says that “promoting racial, cultural or ethnic diversity or inclusiveness,” is still fine. Presumably in some other, less formal way that doesn’t involve a DEI office, although it doesn’t specify what’s allowed. It’s all very confusing. And maybe that’s the point.