State Senator Patricia Rucker (R-WV) is sponsoring a bill that would defund diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and programs to fight discrimination.
“I want to put an end to all of the woke, Marxist poison infecting young minds in educational institutions,” Rucker told PJ Media reporter Catherine Salgado in an interview this month.
Rucker is sponsoring the aptly named “Restoring Sanity Act.”
According to Campus Reform, the Act would remove public college and university funds away from DEI personnel and redirect them to “merit scholarships for lower-income and middle-income students, first-generation college students, or to reduce tuition and mandatory fees for resident students.”
When Salgado asked Rucker why she sponsored the legislation, Rucker explained how DEI and CRT encourage what their proponents claim to oppose: discrimination.
“I am very concerned about the potential of reverse discrimination or any discrimination based on race,” Rucker said. “It is wrong whether one is discriminating [against] any race including Caucasians.”
“So when I hear about CRT being pushed or the DEI policies in some institutions,” Rucker added, “I want to put an end to all of it. All public institutions are using public tax dollars and tax dollars should definitely not support any of those concepts or discriminatory practices.”
The legislation would prevent schools from giving “preferential consideration to an applicant, student, staff member, or faculty member due to any opinion expressed or action taken in support of another individual or a group of individuals on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
West Virginia is not alone in its fight against the discriminatory nature of DEI. The Idaho State Senate is considering a similar bill.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed a bill earlier this month banning state funding of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools, public colleges and state agencies.
The law restricts eight “divisive concepts” dealing with race and personal identity. It also requires that bathrooms be “for use by individuals based on their biological sex” in public colleges.
The anti-DEI has been trending since 2022 when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed similar legislation into law.
“Restoring sanity” could be the new mantra of conservative lawmakers, educators and parents who send their kids to public schools.
