Utah Lawmakers Pass Resolution Against Teaching Critical Race Theory in Schools

Amy Furr

Utah’s House and Senate Republicans passed resolutions this week against using critical race theory (CRT) in schools.

“The votes capped off a dramatic day on Utah’s Capitol Hill, where some lawmakers walked off the floor in protest and conservative activists demonstrated at a news conference of Black community leaders,” Fox 13 reported Wednesday.

While the House voted on its resolution regarding CRT, every Democrat in the chamber walked out, which left Republicans to pass it on their own.

In a social media post Wednesday evening, Christopher F. Rufo, the senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, shared the “House Resolution on Critical Race Theory in Public Education.”

“We are winning the fight against state-sanctioned racism. Onward!” he wrote:

House Speaker Brad Wilson (R-Kaysville) said the document called on the state’s school system to evaluate its curriculum.

“We’re calling on the state school board to look at the curriculum and determine what are the right parameters for this discussion to happen,” he commented.

According to the Fox 13 report, CRT is not currently taught in Utah schools, but lawmakers have been bombarded with emails and calls from citizens opposed to teaching the theory, the outlet continued:

Governor Spencer Cox declined to put it and the Second Amendment Sanctuary bill on the agenda for Wednesday’s special session, which was largely about COVID-19 federal money. But Republican leaders on Capitol Hill felt the issue was urgent, so they took the rare step of calling themselves into an extraordinary session to pass resolutions. Because of the way they were doing it, the House and Senate had to run their own resolutions.

Wilson issued a statement on Tuesday in regard to both issues:

“Utahns – not federal bureaucrats – must remain in control of what is taught in our schools to ensure students understand both positive and negative events in American history, and their duty to be engaged, respectful members of society,” he said.

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