We all know about the WAR ON CRT being waged by Fox News and its courageous champions in legislatures throughout certain parts of the USA. Some of them need a history lesson of their own. A new bill before the Virginia legislature would, in addition to banning the teaching of what some mistakenly call “CRT,” creates a requirement that each student “demonstrate the understanding of… the first debate between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.” Here is a link to the bill. House Bill 781 Section B3
Of course there never was a debate between Fred and Abe. The Lincoln-Douglas debates were between Abraham Lincoln and Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas. Note that even the last name is spelled differently from Frederick Douglass.
Delegate Wren Williams claims that his original draft did not invent a debate between Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, that the mistake was made by the Division of Legislative Services which helps legislators draft bills. Maybe, but I do some work on legislative drafting and every legislator I know does his or her own review of bills after the draft by the legislative service and prior to the bill’s introduction. Why didn’t Williams do this, or at least have his legislative counsel do it.
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