Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens is set to introduce two pieces of legislation intended to combat President Joe Biden’s executive order rolling back a Trump-era ban on critical race theory, according to documents obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller.
One bill would restrict teaching critical race theory at federal institutions while a resolution would highlight the dangers of critical race theory and underline “the systemic racism and damaging philosophy within this prejudicial ideological tool.” Critical race theory holds that America is fundamentally racist, yet it teaches people to view every social interaction and person in terms of race. Its adherents pursue “antiracism” through the end of merit, objective truth and the adoption of race-based policies.
“I grew up attending segregated schools in the Jim Crow South during a time when people were treated differently based on the color of their skin,” Owens said in a statement obtained by the Daily Caller. “Critical Race Theory preserves this way of thinking and undermines civil rights, constitutionally guaranteed equal protection before the law, and U.S. institutions at large.”
“This is the United States of America, and no one should ever be subjected to the discrimination that our laws so clearly prohibit.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 19: Former NFL player Burgess Owens testifies during a hearing on slavery reparations held by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on June 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
Georgia Republican Rep. Rick Allen, who is a co-sponsor of the bill, applauded Owens for introducing the bill in a statement.
“Critical Race Theory aims to indoctrinate Americans into believing our nation is inherently evil, and there is absolutely no room for this divisive ideology in our workplaces or classrooms. I thank Rep. Owens for leading this effort.”
Republican Study Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Banks said Critical Race Theory “is wrong and divisive” in a statement to the Daily Caller.
“It’s terrifying how quickly the left abandoned its commitment to equal treatment under the law. The White House must stop promoting discrimination based on skin color.”
Former President Donald Trump signed an executive order in September that banned federal agencies from promoting or training employees about concepts that hold “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex” or that “the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist” among other things. (RELATED: ZORC: Biden’s Flawed Critical Race Theory Agenda Is Bad For Children And Bad For America)
The order also required diversity and inclusion efforts in federal agencies must encourage employees to not “judge each other by their color, race, ethnicity, sex, or any other characteristic protected by Federal law.”
Owens’ legislation says critical race theory “is, at its core, un-American, discriminatory, and based on Marxist ideology.” The legislation claims the theory “seeks to undermine Capitalism and Western values, such as property rights, free speech, and the very concept of Lockean natural rights.”
The resolution set to be introduced by Owens says critical race theory “serves to reinforce the soft bigotry of low expectations by substituting systemic racism as the determining factor in academic achievement gaps rather than the ongoing failure of policymakers and the education system to provide students of color necessary educational opportunities.”
Biden signed the ‘Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government’ executive order on his first day in office. The order forced all agencies within 60 days to “terminate or restrict contracts or grants pursuant to Executive Order 13950, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.”