Full feature video below

 

It’s a race to the bottom in Florida, where lawmakers have sealed the state’s reputation as the country’s epicenter of discriminatory censorship in schools. Over the past few years, new policies and laws in Florida have stopped teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity, while also repressing any honest efforts to grapple with systemic racism and slavery.

Sadly, Florida is not alone. Since 2020, discriminatory educational censorship laws have spread rapidly across the United States. Conservative groups helped fuel this change by organizing a 50-state campaign, providing state lawmakers with template legislation to restrict the freedom to learn. Today, nearly half of US public school students attend schools impacted by educational censorship laws.

Many people have taken a stand against these prejudiced policies – including in Florida. There, students, parents, churches, cultural institutions, educators, and advocates work to change state laws and stop local censorship, while also developing ways to get students the information they need. Their goal: to build a brighter future for the state.

These Florida leaders stand in a long tradition of education activism. In 1870, after a new US constitutional amendment ended race-based voting restrictions, formerly enslaved people established Freedmen’s Schools, teaching literacy and civics. Ahead of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which banned discrimination in voting, Black Americans and their allies created Freedom Schools so the Black community would have the necessary information to participate in politics and improve their lives.

We hope today’s leaders fighting censorship in Florida can offer a blueprint to people across the United States to further truly free and just education. 

The Crisis


A growing number of US states have recently passed or proposed discriminatory censorship measures that harm students, teachers, and communities. These laws include restrictions on teaching about systemic racism and Black history, sexual orientation and gender identity, and a dramatic rise in book bans. Explore the maps below to understand the scale of the crisis. 

Restricting the Teaching of Black History and Systemic Racism  

Many US states have passed broad laws that prohibit – and even penalize – teaching an honest American history that grapples with slavery and colonialism. Many state-required curriculum changes restrict teachers' ability to help students understand systemic racism. Politicians have distorted and sought to undermine; critical race theory (or CRT), which examines ways racism is embodied in societal structures rather than being solely the product of individual prejudice, to stop discussions of race. And some lawmakers have even implemented teaching standards for what they call “patriotic” education, which literally whitewashes US history by downplaying the harmful role of racial slavery. Florida, for example, passed its “Stop WOKE” Act in 2022, a law that limited instruction about racism in workplaces and educational institutions. The Florida Department of Education also forbid Florida students from taking the Advanced Placement African American Studies course, saying it “lacked educational value.” The state peddled this false claim about the African American Studies course, while continuing to offer access to similar courses about other racial and ethnic groups.

This campaign discriminates against Black people in the United States by censoring or distorting Black history and by normalizing today’s racial inequality. It also harms all students’ ability to understand contemporary human rights issues. After all, students need to recognize structural racism before they can dismantle it and create a better future. 


State Restrictions on Teaching Black History and Systemic Racism


This map indicates state laws and policies that restrict classroom instruction on the causes of systemic racism. Some states have outlawed this content under “divisive concepts” laws. The map includes states that have passed laws or adopted policies which distort or undermine instruction on the history of Black people in the United States. The map also includes laws and policies proposed in 2024.

  • Law or policy exists
  • Law or policy proposed or pending

Data from PEN America with supplemental research from Human Rights Watch.

Data: State Restrictions on Teaching Black History and Systemic Racism
State Laws 2024 Proposed Bills Category Notes
Alabama SB129 Law or policy exists Prohibits public colleges and universities from requiring students to attend any course where certain concepts related to race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin are promoted.
Arizona HB2898 Law or policy exists Bans "instruction that presents any form of blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex."
Arkansas SB294 Law or policy exists Prohibits public K-12 schools from promoting ideologies that conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law or that encourage discrimination, such as Critical Race Theory. Schools may not provide classroom instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-4.
Florida HB7/SB 148 Law or policy exists Bars K-12 schools and public colleges from subjecting students or employees to any training or instruction that "espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels" belief in certain ideas about race, sex, color, or national origin. Classroom instruction related to past racial injustice may not "indoctrinate or persuade" students to believe these ideas. Employers may not require, as a condition of "certification, licensing, credentialing, or passing an examination," that individual be subjected to instruction that "espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels" individuals to believe in certain ideas about race, sex, color, or national origin.
Georgia HB1084 Law or policy exists Bars K-12 schools from promoting certain concepts related to race or US history.
Idaho HB377 Law or policy exists Bans public schools and institutions of higher education from “direct[ing] or otherwise compel[ing] students to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere” to the outlined "critical race theory" tenets. Bars funding for such prohibited acts.
Illinois HB4690 Law or policy proposed or pending Prohibits public K-12 schools from compelling teachers or students to adopt or affirm certain concepts related to age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion, or national origin.
Indiana SB191 Law or policy proposed or pending Prohibits public colleges and universities from expending any state funds to incentivize employees to incorporate certain "divisive concepts" into their curricula. In order to assess the presence of divisive concepts in curricula, the university must make available on its website all syllabi, reading lists, and final grades within seven days of the start of the semester. No state funds may be used to pay any costs related to membership in or travel to an organization that promotes a "divisive concept." Institutions are prohibited from showing bias against or favoritism toward guest speakers or student groups on the basis of their non-violent ideology, activities, or party affiliation.
Kentucky SB1 Law or policy exists Requires public K-12 and charter schools to make their instruction and instructional materials "consistent" with certain ideas related to race, sex, and American history and culture. All instruction on "current, controversial topics" must be "relevant, objective, nondiscriminatory, and respectful to the differing perspectives of students." Students may not be required or incentivized to advocate on behalf of a position that differs from that of their own position or that of their parent or guardian.
Louisiana HB122 Law or policy exists Prohibits public K-12 schools from "covering the topics of sexual orientation or gender identity during any extracurricular academic, athletic, or social activity under the jurisdiction of the school or public school governing authority."
Mississippi SB2113 Law or policy exists Bars public K-12 schools and colleges from compelling students to affirm or adopt certain ideas related to race, sex, or other characteristics, nor make "a distinction or classification of students based on account of race".
Missouri SB770 Law or policy proposed or pending Prohibits public K-12 schools from including in the curriculum the 1619 Project, "critical race theory", or certain concepts related to race or sex. Schools may not enforce policies "that prevent students from engaging in and discussing concepts and topics of traditional American history such as founding documents and the founding fathers."
North Dakota HB1508 / SB 2247 Law or policy exists HB1508 — Requires that all instruction in public K-12 schools be "factual" and "objective." Prohibits the inclusion of any instruction related to critical race theory, defined as "the theory that racism is not merely the product of learned individual bias or prejudice, but that racism is systemically embedded in American society and the American legal system to facilitate racial inequality." SB2247 — Prohibits public colleges and universities from compelling students or employees to endorse or oppose certain concepts related to race, sex, religion, creed, nonviolent political affiliation, social class, or class of people. Colleges may not ask any student or faculty member about their ideological or political viewpoint.
Oklahoma HB 1775 Law or policy exists Bans "mandatory gender or sexual diversity training or counseling" for students or "orientation or requirement that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping or a bias on the basis of race or sex" in higher education. Prohibits schools from using specified concepts in courses.
South Dakota HB1012 Law or policy exists Bans public colleges from compelling students to adopt or affirm certain ideas related to race, sex, and other characteristics, nor require students or employees to attend any training or orientation that teaches these ideas.
Tennessee HB2670 / SB2290 Law or policy exists Bans public colleges and universities from including certain ideas related to race and sex in any "seminars, workshops, trainings, and orientations." Campus diversity initiatives must include the promotion of intellectual diversity.
Texas SB3 Law or policy exists Removes HB 3979's social studies curriculum materials. Creates civics training program for teachers and administrators. Mandates that parents receive login credentials to online instructional materials. Prohibits teachers from being "compelled to discuss a particular current event or widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs." If they do so, teachers must "strive to explore that topic from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective." Bans requiring or awarding credit for a student's lobbying or policy advocacy. Bars schools and state agencies from making inculcation in certain concepts part of a course. Bans teaching, training, or instructing employees in those concepts. Bans schools and state agencies from requiring an understanding of the 1619 Project. Bans private funding for curriculum or professional development.
Utah HB261 Law or policy exists Prohibits public K-12 schools and colleges and universities from requiring employees, students, or prospective employees or students, to attend "instructional training" (defined as including an "in-person or online seminar, discussion group, workshop, other program, or related materials") in which certain concepts are promoted. These concepts include that a person should receive treatment on the basis of their "personal characteristics" or that "socio-political structures are inherently a series of power relationships and struggles among racial groups." Such trainings may not promote "resentment between, or resentment of, individuals by virtue of their personal identity characteristics" and may not promote any idea "referred to or named diversity, equity, and inclusion." The titles and syllabi of all mandatory courses must be posted online.
West Virginia HB4349 Law or policy proposed or pending Prohibits public K-12 schools from promoting or embracing any stereotypes about a particular race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or national origin, or to an individual because of his or her race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or national origin.
Wyoming HB132 Law or policy proposed or pending Prohibits public K-12 schools from using any state funds on instruction that "presents any form of blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, color or national origin." Curricula may not include certain concepts related to race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or national origin.

Restricting LGBT Content in Classrooms  

Banning Books  

Rolling Back Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Measures  

The Students

Maxx Fenning founded PRISM in 2019 to create a space where LGBTQ children could be safe and affirmed, March 11, 2024.

 © 2024 Sarah Grile/Human Rights Watch

A then-high-school student in Palm Beach, Florida, Maxx Fenning didn’t think Florida legislators would pass the Don’t Say Gay or Trans Law. Maxx, an LGBTQ+ advocate, even texted a close friend saying the bill was too far-fetched to get enough support.

Before the vote, Maxx and his friends joined 200 people who flooded the Florida capitol building’s rotunda, chanting and waving pride flags, so legislators could hear and see their objections. Then, in March 2022, Florida’s House of Representatives passed the law with 69 lawmakers voting in favor, 47 against.

For Maxx, it was gut-wrenching to see state legislators villainize his community. It reminded him of “No Promo Homo” laws, enacted in several states in the 1990s, which prohibited the “promotion” of homosexuality or even required teachers to instruct students that same-sex activity is unacceptable and may be illegal under state law.

But Maxx had a way to push back. In 2020, he and a group of friends created PRISM, a youth-led nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to LGBTQ+ inclusive education and sexual health resources for students in South Florida. They wanted a place for LGBTQ+ youth to feel safe and affirmed. The group even created a high school ambassador program to help LGBTQ+ youth develop leadership skills to create change in their communities.

After passage of the Don’t Say Gay or Trans law, officially House Bill 1557, Maxx turned his focus to supporting LGBT high school students experiencing the worst impacts of the law as well as book bans. For the first time, PRISM felt that it had to defend against emboldened anti-LGBT hate in the state.

“We have seen books pulled from shelves. We've seen a complete silencing of LGBT history, queer voices, and queer stories in the classroom. And it has just been an immensely damaging reality for so many young people,” he said.

A few months after the law passed, the Miami Dade County School Board was set to consider a measure recognizing October as LGBT History Month. The school board had previously passed the measure unanimously, but in Florida’s political climate, it decided to revisit the topic as some board members now considered LGBT history a contentious topic.

PRISM students worked with the United Teachers of Dade, a local teachers union, to galvanize a large turnout for the October 19 board meeting. More than 100 people attended the meeting, both to support and oppose the measure. The opposition included members of the Proud Boys, a right-wing paramilitary group whose presence intimidated many community members, students said. After hours of public comment – the meeting lasted past midnight – the board rejected the measure to celebrate LGBT History Month. The students and their supporters were devastated.

The following year, October 2023, PRISM showed up at the school board meeting again. This time, the group prepared high school speakers to use their three-minute presentation time to share a piece of LGBT history. The students chose to share historical events related to educational standards set out by Florida. If the school district wouldn’t recognize LGBT History Month, the students would do it themselves.

LGBT students and families across South Florida held watch parties of the school board meeting, proud that they were publicly broadcasting LGBT history at the very place where they suffered a loss. The “School the School Board” project, as it was named, will become an annual event. Maxx saw his peers turn a moment of grief and despair on its head, creating something beautiful.

PRISM and the students have been winning improvements for their peers at the school board ever since. In March 2024, the group worked with high school students and a Miami-Dade County school board member to pass a measure that expands opportunities for students to participate in school board meetings. Maxx and PRISM are part of a movement of Florida youth-led groups, including the SEE Alliance and Youth Action Fund, who also advocate for LGBT youth.  

Michidae Ceard trains high school and college students in Florida to advocate for their rights, Miami, Florida, March 14, 2024.

 © 2024 Sarah Grile/Human Rights Watch

In February 2024, more than 100 middle and high school students stood on the state capitol steps in Tallahassee to deliver a simple message: We want to learn our history, free from political interference by legislators.

“We realized that in order for us to make an impact, we had to show our legislators that young people are watching,” said Michidae (Michi) Ceard, a community organizer with the Florida Student Power Network who helped organize the students.

Florida Student Power Network helps young people in Florida fight for racial justice. Its organizers spend their days on high school and college campuses educating young Black and Brown people about their state government. Michi, who became a community organizer as a teenager in 2016, said she invests hours of time to build relationships through one-on-one meetings and community gatherings. She creates a space where students can come to have their opinions taken seriously, and be asked what they want Florida to look like.

Michi and her team worked with young people to prepare for the spring 2024 legislative session. Weeks ahead of the lobbying day at the capital, organizers taught students how bills move through the chambers, what upcoming legislation was critical to pay attention to, and how to develop the confidence and skill to influence legislators. The students were particularly interested in proposed legislation that would remove diversity, equity, and inclusion from teacher training programs, and bills that would harm student protestors on college campuses, such as removing financial aid for students involved in pro-Palestinian activism.

Florida Student Power Network brought high school students to the state legislature to advocate for policies that would advance racial justice, Tallahassee, Florida, February 20, 2024.
Click to expand Image
Florida Student Power Network brought high school students to the state legislature to advocate for policies that would advance racial justice, Tallahassee, Florida, February 20, 2024. © 2024 Trey Walk/Human Rights Watch

Michi wanted all the students to show up ready to make their voices heard. She remembered coming into her own voice as a high school student, being taught by community activists the importance of paying attention to local government.

The students walked through the marbled halls of the capitol building and met with a number of supportive legislators. Michi told the students that, even when the state passes bills they don’t support, it is important to keep showing up so legislators see and hear directly from the young people whose lives they are shaping.

At the end of the legislative session, the students were thrilled to learn that a number of the proposed bills that would have increased censorship in the state schools failed to pass in their most extreme forms. A bill that would have removed student financial aid for protesting failed. A bill that would have outlawed pride flags and other flags the state deemed too political also failed. Advocates in places like Florida celebrate these moments of victory against seemingly impossible odds.

Florida Student Power Network also registers eligible young people to vote, recognizing that the range of issues they advocate for are on the ballot in November. The group works with others in the movement, like Power U and Dream Defenders, to develop young leaders of color who fight for racial justice. 

The Parents

Lissette Fernandez attends a rally in support of Miami public school teachers. Miami, Florida, March 10, 2024.

 © 2024 Sarah Grile/Human Rights Watch

Lissette Fernandez never planned on becoming an activist. That was, until she felt her children’s future was at stake.

Born and raised in a close-knit Cuban community in Miami, Lissette felt her journey was like that of many parents. She simply wanted a good education for her two elementary-aged children.

She was stunned when, in May 2023, she learned that her children’s school district planned to remove books from school libraries including the “ABCs of Black History,” a children’s book; “The Hill We Climb," a poetry book by Amanda Gorman, the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate; "Love to Langston,” a book about the African American poet Langston Hughes; and “Cuban Kids,” a photobook about Cuban culture and history. These books were being banned because a Florida resident had filed a book challenge, arguing that the books were not “age appropriate.” Lissette worried this trend would spread to more books and schools in the community.

“I don't want my kids to ever feel like they're not loved or they're not wanted because of who they are,” Lisette said. “So I advocate for [Black and LGBT] kids as well because I wouldn't want people to treat me like that.”

Lissette worked with her friend, Vanessa Brito, to start Moms for Libros, an advocacy organization led by parents who oppose politically motivated censorship of books and critical learning materials. The group advocates primarily at the school board level to influence the implementation of Florida laws. For example, while Florida law expanded the book challenge process, local school boards ultimately vote and decide on materials that will be removed from a school district. They hope to speak out for parents who aren’t represented by the conservative so-called “parental rights movement,” which often opposes young people’s freedom to learn. 

Lissette thinks Florida – through the Stop WOKE Act, Don’t Say Gay or Trans law, and book banning attempts – was imposing a political agenda on its public schools. “They’re trying to spread this message that it’s about parental rights, but really, it’s not about parental rights,” she said, “because I don’t have as much of a say about what goes on with my kids' education as the mom next to me who shares the [conservative] politics of the legislature.”

Moms for Libros teaches parents the logistics of advocacy at the school board: how to register for public comment, how to prepare for public speaking, and how to build relationships with school board members. The group, which works together with dozens of parent-led advocacy groups, like Florida Freedom to Read Project and the Coalition for Black Student Achievement, mobilizes its parent network to speak in favor of legislation it supports and against legislation it believes could further censorship.

Lissette says the work is difficult when it cuts into family time or puts her in the public eye beyond her comfort. She leans on her family, community of other parents, and her aspirations for her children to persevere.  

The Faith Community 

Pastor Rhonda Thomas is executive director of Faith in Florida, where she leads an initiative to support faith institutions to offer Black history to their congregations and the broader community, Opa Locka, Florida, March 13, 2024.

 © 2024 Sarah Grile/Human Rights Watch

Pastor Rhonda Thomas lived through some of the history she aims to preserve. She was in the first generation of students to attend integrated schools in Florida. When Rhonda was 8 years old, her friend’s birthday party was cancelled because of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.

At the time, Rhonda didn’t understand why the party was cancelled, but when her parents turned on the television, she realized the moment was bigger than one person. She watched black-and-white footage of devastation across the United States, including tears of grief and rebellions in urban centers. “Why did this happen?” she asked her parents about the killing of the civil rights leader. As her mother and father carefully chose words to explain racism in the United States, Rhonda remembers saying aloud, “but that’s not fair!”

Today, nearly 60 years later, Rhonda still says the same refrain about policies impacting Black people: “But that’s not fair.” She worries that the United States is rolling back civil and human rights protections won during her childhood.

Inspired by King and other civil rights leaders, Rhonda became a community organizer, originally working on voting rights and economic justice issues. She is now the executive director of Faith in Florida, a multicultural coalition of congregations working to advance racial and economic justice in the state. She also teaches in her family’s church, New Generation Missionary Baptist Church.

When Florida passed the Stop WOKE law and other measures restricting complete and comprehensive Black history education, Rhonda said she was exhausted by being on the defensive. She knew that the Black church had a key role to play and worked with her team at Faith in Florida to create a toolkit to help pastors incorporate Black history lessons into their Sunday sermons. She also worked with Florida churches to launch Black History lessons on Saturdays, opening the programs to the entire community regardless of religious or political affiliation, race or ethnic background, citizenship, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

This initiative took off and sparked a national movement. After Faith in Florida rolled out its Black History toolkit, the group began receiving calls from barbershops, prison chaplains, and community groups wanting to bring this information to their constituencies. Rhonda was fielding phone calls from Mormon, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and other congregations who wanted to follow her lead. She has now advised faith communities in at least 29 states about how they can use their platforms to protect the right to learn Black history.

Rhonda believes Faith in Florida’s efforts to teach Black history have inspired greater civic engagement. When Black Floridians of all ages learn about their communities’ long history of activism, they stand up taller, she says.

She is also out to remind the Black church of its own history in leading movements for social change. At a time when human rights in the United States are under threat, Rhonda sees teaching Black history as a pathway to engage people in resisting. Young people who learn that their rights were won by ordinary people, leaders like King and Fannie Lou Hamer and Dolores Huerta, are inspired to continue this activism.

When voting rights and democracy are “slipping through our fingers,” she said, the teaching of Black history is “good for democracy too.”

The Cultural Institutions 

Mitchell Kaplan founded Books & Books, an independent bookstore in South Florida, and supports booksellers across the US to resist educational censorship efforts, Coral Gables, Florida, March 11, 2024.

 © 2024 Sarah Grile/Human Rights Watch