South Carolina General Assembly
124th Session, 2021-2022

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Bill 5245


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 59-29-115 SO AS TO PROVIDE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION SHALL ENSURE CERTAIN STANDARDS ARE INCLUDED IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA SOCIAL STUDIES COLLEGE AND CAREER STANDARDS IN EACH CYCLICAL REVIEW OF THE STANDARDS; AND TO REQUIRE THE BOARD ALSO SHALL PROVIDE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ALIGNED WITH THESE STANDARDS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Article 1, Chapter 29, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

    "Section 59-29-115.    (A)    At each cyclical review of the South Carolina Social Studies College and Career Standards, the State Board of Education shall ensure that standards are inserted into appropriate grade levels and courses that address the events of the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968, the natural law and natural rights principles that informed and guided the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during his leadership of the Civil Rights Movement, and the tactics and strategies of nonviolent resistance that he championed in response to the Jim Crow laws of that era. This period in American history, known as the Civil Rights Era, saw reform-minded Americans organize to reject the doctrine of separate but equal and repeal Jim Crow-era laws in parts of the United States that embodied the doctrine. One of the universal lessons of the Civil Rights Era is that hatred on the basis of immutable characteristics, not just race or ethnicity but also characteristics such as nationality, religious belief, disability, or sex, can overtake any nation or society, leading to profound injustice. To reinforce that lesson, the standards must include appropriate items regarding other acts of discriminatory injustice, such as genocide in other regions and nations. The standards must include, but not be limited to, the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, Chinese Coolie labor in Cuba, the Uyghurs in China, and the Rohingya of Myanmar. The studying of this material is a reaffirmation of the commitment of the free peoples of this State to reject bigotry, to champion equal protection under the law as a foundational principle of our Republic, and to act in opposition to injustice wherever it may occur.

    (B)    The State Board of Education shall approve instructional materials that align to the requirements of this section."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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