Cherokee County Schools vow to prohibit critical race theory

ATLANTA - At least 400 people crammed into the Cherokee County School Board auditorium or watched the meeting from a window as the school board voted to prohibit a subject matter called "critical race theory" in its schools Thursday. The announcement came just hours after Governor Brian Kemp called the theory decisive and anti-American.

People were protesting critical race theory chanted "no CRT" well into the night and during that school board meeting.

School leaders vowed not to teach it in schools, but many meeting goers said that promise isn’t enough.

Georgia State Representative Brad Thomas, who was the first speaker during the public comment period, said he’s drafting a bill to ban critical race theory in Georgia.

Critical race theory, or CRT, examines concepts like white privilege and racial equity while looking at how the country’s system of laws may or may not benefit people of certain races.

The majority of the boisterous group was there as a show of force, demanding the district to prohibit CRT and other forms of inclusion from its schools.

SEE ALSO: Forsyth County residents debate diversity curriculum in schools

The group cheered as the Cherokee County superintendent made the announcement that neither CRT nor the 1619 Project will be implemented.

The school board also decided not to move forward with a diversity equity and inclusion initiative— or DEI— that other school districts have adopted.

"If you vote to do away with DEI, does the new DEI administrator have her offer rescinded," a speaker against diversity and inclusion in schools asked the board.

But that applause was short-lived, turning to boos and unrest as the school vowed to maintain its social and emotional learning.

"The census shows this community, despite what people say, is not very diverse," a Cherokee County woman said as she spoke in favor of equity taught in schools.

Meeting goers weren’t shy during the public comment period, often interrupting those with differing opinions.

The meeting just hours after Governor Brian Kemp penned a letter to the state board of education, calling critical race theory a dangerous ideology gaining favor in Washington DC.

Georgia State Representative Brad Thomas said a drafted bill to ban CRT in Georgia could be ready as soon as July.

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