SC legislators should oppose bills that would silence minorities and erase their history

As South Carolina celebrates Black History Month, state legislators once again fail to understand irony.

The House Education and Public Works Committee chose to use this month of remembrance to entertain no fewer than six bills - all of which share the common goal of silencing minorities and attempting to erase their history.

According to legal fellows within the ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, SC United for Justice and Equality, and others, House bills 4325, 4343, 4392, 4799, 4605, and Senate bill 534 all contain language which will make school a less truthful environment for all children, and may even make school a hostile environment for various members of minority communities - including people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.

Another grave concern is that at least one of these bills is exceedingly broad - extending its reach to nonprofit organizations and even private businesses - effectively attempting to limit their freedom of speech.

All of these discriminatory bills attempt to justify their hatred by crying that “the CRT boogeyman” and “the trans agenda” are out to get your children - yet the bills fail to actually acknowledge that their language does not meet the definition of critical race theory at all.

More ironic is the fact that critical race theory and LGBTQ+ identity and sexuality are not a part of the state educational standards at all.

Therefore, it is painfully obvious that these bills are a solution in search of a problem.

However, Chairperson Rita Allison sees fit to ignore these facts and attempt to use components of all of these bills to at least get one piece of harmful legislation passed by the General Assembly.

Inclusivity. Hospitality. Respect.

These are the qualities of the South Carolina of my childhood.

They are lacking in our legislators.

Amberlyn Boiter, a trans woman living in the upstate of South Carolina, is vice president of PFLAG Spartanburg.

This story was originally published February 6, 2022 at 9:00 AM with the headline "SC legislators should oppose bills that would silence minorities and erase their history."