Des Moines students protest divisive concepts ban and charter schools at Capitol [View all]

Des Moines Public School students gathered on the steps of the Iowa Capitol on Monday afternoon to protest two education bills: one that would create new pathways for charter schools to form and another to ban certain “divisive concepts” from school training and curricula.

“Diversity means nothing if we aren’t willing or even allowed to acknowledge it,” said protest organizer Lyric Sellers, a junior at East High School in Des Moines. “Diversity means nothing if it doesn’t make us do things differently and commit to liberating our marginalized communities.”

House File 802 would prohibit the inclusion of “divisive concepts” in mandatory school training and curriculum. The list of forbidden concepts includes the idea that an individual is unconsciously racist or sexist due to their race or sex and the idea that the United States or Iowa are “fundamentally or systemically racist or sexist.”

“The education system cannot fully commit to anti-racism and equity if they can’t acknowledge and talk about the harm that marginalized communities have undergone and continue to experience,” said Endi Montalvo-Martinez, a senior at East High School. Montalvo-Martinez, 17, and Sellers, 16, are cofounders of the DMPS Racial Justice and Equity student group.

Read more: https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2021/04/26/des-moines-students-protest-divisive-concepts-ban-and-charter-schools-at-capitol/