Time to turn the page as divisive concepts law takes effect | GEORGE DANIELS | MY TURN

This month presents an opportunity to turn the page on the multi-year debate over so-called “divisive concepts.” Along with the beginning of a new budget year, Oct. 1 marked the start of Alabama Act 2024-34 (formerly SB 129). But for faculty members like me and my colleagues at public institutions across our state, we’re already implementing the changes prompted by the law.

First, we must offer a bit of context. As early as 2022, debates about divisive concepts were happening here in our state with proposed legislation introduced in both houses of the Alabama Legislature. The Chronicle of Higher Education has been tracking changes in offices, jobs, training, diversity statements and other activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) since January 2023. Alabama is one of at least 30 states where changes have been tracked.

Here at the University of Alabama, Alabama Act 2024-34 has prompted a new statement that a faculty member has the option of including on a course syllabus.

“This class may present difficult, objectionable, or controversial topics for consideration, but will do so through an objective, scholarly lens designed to encourage critical thinking,” the statement reads. “Though students may be asked to share their personal views in the academic setting, no student will ever be required to assent or agree with any concept considered 'divisive' under Alabama law, nor penalized for refusing to support or endorse such a concept.”

Because of this new law, I believe there’s been more intentional discussion about what diversity topics we’re covering in our classes. In the process of all of this, I believe our students are learning just how influential state lawmakers can be in what happens in classrooms at public institutions.

The new law stipulates that faculty must not require students to agree — through direct engagement or through academic penalties — with any “divisive concept.” Most any faculty member will tell you that we don’t teach so you will agree with us. It’s never been about indoctrination, but rather information and inspiration.

About those headlines

You may have seen headlines like one for the Alabama Reflector’s Jemma Stephenson story last month ( “University of Alabama closes spaces for Black Student Union and LGBTQ+ Center”) or one in late July that The Tuscaloosa News reported ( “University of Alabama closes DEI offices to comply with new laws”) .

Some may have viewed these “closures” as a victory in stopping the work of those who are committed to being inclusive as we prepare students for a world that is rapidly becoming more and more racially and ethnically diverse. But, in fact, quite the opposite is true.

Instead of stopping the work, the real efforts to ensure every student is supported no matter his or her racial ethnic or gender identity are only getting ramped up. At least at the University of Alabama, our record enrollment of 40, 846 students this fall includes more than 10,000 students from ethnic or racial minority groups, an increase of 8.2%.

My “Race, Gender and Media” class is the largest one I’ve taught in the decade-long history of the course. The class that has students from at least three racial minority groups among its members grew so large we had to move to a classroom in a different building.

Now in my 21st year here at the university, I was pleased to be a part of a strategic planning committee that recommended the creation of a Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion only a few years ago in 2016. Today, that unit no longer exists. Instead, a Division of Opportunities, Connections and Success is overseeing our ongoing efforts to prepare students for a global workforce.

Since state funds are not able to support diversity-related programming and maintain spaces on campus just for students from certain under-represented groups, we know there will be a need for some substantial adjustment. Nonetheless, this has created an even greater imperative that faculty members ensure our classrooms are places where students of all backgrounds know they belong.

About teaching history

Among other things, Alabama Act 2024-34 does not prevent students, staff or faculty organizations or associations from hosting diversity, equity and inclusion programs or discussions that may involve divisive concepts.

Furthermore, it does not prohibit the teaching of topics or historical events in a historically accurate context. This seemed to be one of the key outcomes of the law, which was originally introduced by state Sen. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road).

“My mother was a history teacher. This does not prohibit in any form or fashion the teaching of history, which I don’t think we do a very good job of,” Barfoot told the members of the Alabama Senate’s County and Municipal Government Committee in February. “There’s so many things, the good, the bad, the ugly that happened here in the state of Alabama and the United States that we don’t talk enough about.”

So, that’s why what we do in classrooms like mine is so important. We talk about “the good, the bad and ugly.”

Ironically, my “Race, Gender and Media” class meets in Autherine Lucy Hall , a building renamed two years ago for the woman who first tried to desegregate our institution in 1956. Just two floors above where university officials kept young Autherine Lucy safe from mobs that tried to stop her enrollment as the first Black student back then, today we’re talking about critical race theory, Christopher Columbus and how people who are transgender are presented in the mass media.

And, this history is not just a racial history. One of the students from last fall’s “Race, Gender and Media” class is now doing his own independent research. I am pleased to direct his study on the Alabama Forum, the state’s longest running LGBT newspaper, part of the invisible histories that many have fought to get on the radar. His research is based, in part, on archival material in our Hoole Special Collections Library here at the University of Alabama.

Opening minds, reframing the narrative

Ultimately, a flagship institution like the University of Alabama must be an example of how we open minds rather than close mouths when it comes to issues that might be touchy or controversial. This is especially true in an election year when many politicians are using topics such as diversity, equity and inclusion to divide rather than unite. That strategy might win votes. But it’s inconsistent with what we ought to be about as educators.

It is up to the faculty to expose and educate our students to the real issues that underlie many of the changes in the world around them. Many of those issues are “divisive” and warrant deliberation, dialogue and sometimes debate by those who are well-informed. In only a few short years, these students of ours will be citizens positioned to create change in their workplaces, communities and other circles of influence.

As a journalist and media scholar, I stress the importance of re-framing narratives around what we can do rather than what is prohibited or “banned” because of a new law. This month as one of the inaugural teaching fellows for University of Alabama Teaching Academy, I was pleased to share with dozens of my UA faculty colleagues' pedagogical principles for integrating what was formerly known as SB 129 into one’s curriculum.

Alabama now has an opportunity to show the nation that in spite of new laws restricting DEI operations, we know how to teach and inspire our students to operate in a diverse world. We know how to amplify learning about history — both the good and the bad — in a way that sets our students up for success.

Dr. George L. Daniels is an associate professor of journalism and creative media and Reese Phifer Fellow at The University of Alabama. He can be reached at gdaniels@ua.edu.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Time to turn the page as divisive concepts law takes effect | GEORGE DANIELS | MY TURN