TO: Members of the Alabama State Legislature
Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)
Charles A. Brown-Birmingham, Alabama, Branch
Mobile, Alabama, Branch
Harper Councill Trenholm Sr. Branch
March 4, 2024
Statement of Position on Alabama SB129 and Similar Bills
We, the undersigned officers of the Charles A. Brown-Birmingham Branch, the Mobile Branch, and the Harper Councill Trenholm Sr. Branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), are unified in opposing Senate Bill 129, titled “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Certain Public Entities Prohibited” (hereinafter SB129), which the Alabama Senate passed and is pending Committee action in Second House.
If the Alabama House of Representatives and the governor endorse SB129, the subsequent law will eliminate any attempt to promote inclusive and equitable policies and programs that support all Alabama citizens and impose significant constraints on the education of students and the training of employees regarding historical facts relating to “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” We oppose SB129 and any similar legislation that politicizes education and training, that suppresses unencumbered opportunities for students, instructors, or others in academe to think analytically, critically, or objectively and furthermore to speak openly, honestly, or factually about past, present, or future societal matters in Alabama, the South, the United States of America, or elsewhere in the world.
If SB129 becomes law, it would nullify fundamental rights of citizenship and undermine long respected best practices in education. The First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and academic freedom are paramount. Moreover, the law will hinder equal opportunities for all citizens and severely restrict the level of quality in education that helps students become well-informed citizens. Consequently, they will not be as knowledgeable about history, as aware about issues of diversity, or as engaged with the general progress of local, state, regional, national, or international society as students could be with proper academic exposure to groundbreaking as well as traditional disciplinary and interdisciplinary concepts, hypotheses, and theories. Closing offices of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and cancelling the academic investigating of human culture is antithetical to earnest scholarly pursuits and hence the development of learned, humanitarian, and patriotic citizens.
By endorsement of SB129, the Alabama Senate, the Alabama House, and the governor would legalize the unethical elimination of offices and policies of diversity, equity and inclusion as well as suppress intellectual dialogue in classrooms and in other public spaces, leading to the disenfranchisement of the rights of Alabama citizens. This act will break decades of societal progress that Alabamians have made regarding ethnic and racial injustice, gender and sex discrimination, health disparity, economic inequality, academic advancement, and religious freedom. We, therefore, oppose any legislation that undermines policies and programs of diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as educational freedom, that threaten legitimate expression, or constrains discussion of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” as identified by SB129. This legislation would have an adverse impact on the intellectual, cultural, and economic prosperity of the state.
For the above mentioned reasons and myriad others, we tender this statement as a formal position opposing SB129.
Signed,
Majella Chube Hamilton, President
Charles A. Brown-Birmingham, Alabama, Branch
ASALH
Angelia Bendolph, President
Mobile, Alabama, Branch
ASALH
Bertis D. English, President
Harper Councill Trenholm Sr. Branch (Montgomery, Alabama)
ASALH