Alabama lawmakers are pushing forward a bill that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and offices in certain public entities, state agencies and universities, joining anti-DEI efforts led by Republicans in states across the country.
Senate Bill 129 would prohibit state agencies and colleges from funding diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and initiatives that advocate “divisive concepts,” which are defined as topics of race, ethnicity, sex, national origin or religion.
The bill also folds in a requirement for students attending public universities to use bathrooms that align with their biological sex, which targets transgender students and, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), reflects legislation that has been introduced in 19 other states this year.
Republican proponents of the Alabama bill argue that diversity, equity and inclusion ideologies in colleges and universities are divisive and a form of indoctrination that fails to welcome students of different backgrounds, a stance that has been echoed by GOP lawmakers in other states that are pushing anti-DEI legislation.
“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” State Senator Will Barfoot, one of the Republican lawmakers who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. “This legislation will build bridges to celebrate what people have in common, not erect walls that silo people into the idea that their race, religion, and sexual orientation solely define who they are and how society should view them.”
But opponents of the Alabama bill, including Alabama Democrats who have attempted to amend it, have concerns about the legislation, especially regarding how it would negatively affect historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU).
“HBCUs were created to give us an opportunity and space to be able to be creative and grow and to be self-sufficient, self-sustaining,” state Rep. Prince Chestnut (D), said according to the Alabama Reflector, adding that the legislation would “possibly destroy that opportunity.”
Similar concerns have been brought up by opponents of DEI bans across the country, who have pointed out the ways that such legislation would also impact students who are Hispanic, disabled, women, and those with veteran status, among other demographics.
The ACLU warned that the Alabama bill, along with other DEI bans, would have a chilling effect on race, class, sexuality and national origin discourse, adding that it is a form of censorship that curtails an education on systemic inequities, racial violence, and the historic efforts to gain civil rights.
Previous attempts to pass the Alabama legislation have failed in the past, but on Wednesday the bill was passed by an Alabama Senate Committee and is now heading to the Senate floor, according to the Alabama Political Reporter.
Anti-DEI legislation has surged in states across the country since 2021, and follows a conservative-led effort to ban critical race theory as a way of restricting discussions of anti-racism in K-12 public schools, Axios reported. Notably, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has spent years pushing multiple bills forward to prohibit educators in K-12 schools from discussing topics of race, gender and sexuality, including the “Stop W.O.K.E.” Act that barred certain colleges from teaching race-related curriculum.
In 2023, state legislators introduced at least 65 anti-DEI bills, which included bans on diversity offices and training, the use of diversity statements in hiring processes, and the use of race or ethnicity in admissions decisions, according to the Chronicles of Higher Education.
This year, at least 50 of anti-DEI bills have been introduced in at least 20 states across the country, The Associated Press reported.