Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a sweeping bill prohibiting the use of state funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and offices in state agencies, higher education institutions, and other public entities.
“My administration has and will continue to value Alabama’s rich diversity; however, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses—or wherever else for that matter—to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe,” Ivey said in a statement issued on March 20, 2016, to media outlets.
Civil rights and advocacy groups promptly opposed the proposal, claiming that comparable regulations limit free speech.
“Today, the Alabama government has failed our children,” stated Derrick Johnson, the NAACP’s president and CEO. “The continual assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion is part of an anti-Black agenda that attempts to return our country to a time when black students and instructors were denied equal access to the classroom. “We refuse to go back.”
DEI, as defined by professionals in that field, aims to correct inequities within an organization. This could include implementing accessibility measures for people with disabilities, correcting discriminatory hiring practices, addressing gender and racial pay disparities, providing anti-bias training, and more.
SB129 would “authorize certain public entities to discipline or terminate employees or contractors who violate this act.”
Additionally, the bill forbids certain public entities from “promoting, endorsing, or requiring affirmation of or certain divisive concepts relating to race, sex, or religion,” “conditioning enrollment or attendance in certain classes or training on the basis of race or color,” and mandates higher education institutions to designate multiple occupancy restrooms for use based on biological gender.
The proposal is the latest step in an ongoing conservative-backed campaign to restrict programs, curricula, and activities that address issues like race, gender, and sex.
Similar measures, such as Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, which prohibits race-related instruction and training in schools, have encountered judicial challenges, limiting the policies’ reach.
The Alabama statute takes effect on October 1, 2024.
