The right to free expression is a cornerstone of our democracy—and a fundamental aspect of our public education system, where people have the freedom to learn about our country’s diversity of histories, heritages, and perspectives. These protections are particularly critical for Black Americans and other individuals, who have long fought to ensure their histories and perspectives are included and valued within our multiracial democracy. And yet recently, there has been a clear and coordinated attack on truthful, inclusive education and a push to deny our nation’s shameful legacy of racism. South Carolina is one of many states since 2017 that have adopted laws and policies to restrict discussions around race and racism in the classroom.
The lessons of history tell us that truth is essential for a society to grow. We cannot rewrite our past; instead, we must redefine our present and future by learning from it. Truthful and inclusive discussions about United States and South Carolina history – like the Trail of Tears, the Hamburg Massacre, Jim Crow laws and segregation, and the Stono Rebellion – and their connection to present-day inequalities are essential to ensuring South Carolina students receive an accurate, quality education.
These egregious attempts to reverse progress toward racial justice cannot change the fact that America is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy where everyone’s voice, everyone’s story, and everyone’s future matters. That is why the Legal Defense Fund is unwavering in its commitment to standing in defense of truth and working to ensure all students have full access to high-quality and inclusive education.
On Monday, January 25, 2025, the Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in South Carolina on behalf of South Carolina students and educators and a renowned author, citing widespread attempts to erase Black history and heritage in public education. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have been harmed by the State’s racially discriminatory censorship law, Budget Proviso 1.79.
South Carolina recently passed Budget Proviso 1.79, which prohibits the use of state funding for the instruction, training, or use of pedagogical tools on certain topics related to the discussion of racial and gender inequalities. The proviso has been reauthorized annually since 2021 and has led to the restriction of accurate, comprehensive education about race and racism for South Carolina students, including the decertification of the Advanced Placement African American Studies course and censorship of books by Black authors. These attacks have infringed upon the rights of public educators and students to teach and learn about important information in American and South Carolina history and current events.
Learn more about the effects of Budget Proviso 1.79 here.
The Pro-Truth SC Coalition is a grassroots coalition of organizations and concerned citizens from across the Palmetto State and beyond that was formed to ensure that South Carolina’s children learn an accurate history of our country and state so they can grow up to be informed and engaged adults. The organization’s mission is to protect and expand the teaching of diverse and inclusive history in South Carolina.
Currently, the coalition is engaging in the #ProTruthSC campaign to advocate for honest and truthful education and has fought against several bills in the South Carolina House and Senate aimed to prohibit and censor the teaching of history and current events concerning Black, Indigenous, Jewish, and LGBTQ+ communities. The founding members of the Pro-Truth SC Coalition are the E3 Foundation, the Lowcountry Black Parents Association, the ACLU of South Carolina, and the Legal Defense Fund.
LDF has compiled answers to the most frequently asked questions about Critical Race Theory. Learn more about CRT, laws banning racial justice discourse, and how these fit into a larger effort to suppress the voices, history, and political participation of Black Americans.
LDF is at the forefront of the fight to ensure that America lives up to the ideals of justice and equality for all. The right to free expression and the right to vote are cornerstones of our democracy. LDF and coalition partners are fighting back to protect truth.
LDF Original Content
Public education has been taken hostage in Florida. And the state legislature and governor’s campaign to limit what facts and information can be accessed in public learning institutions is the driving force.
Characterizing discussions of race, gender, and LGBTQ+ experiences as “anti-American” is part of an effort seeking to define what it means to be an American and maintain power structures that harm marginalized groups.
The word “woke” has been a signal urging Black people to be aware of the systems that harm and otherwise put us at a disadvantage since the 1920s. Now, it has been co-opted and maligned to hold back racial justice progress.
One way in which truth is attacked is through controlling the narratives told in children’s history textbooks, a practice dating back to the U.S. Civil War. this TMI brief examines the ramifications of attempts by anti-truth groups to remove or whitewash our nation’s history and legacy of racism from K-12 public school classrooms.
