A battle over New Hampshire’s “divisive concepts law” has been brewing in the state since 2021. The measure restricts instruction on topics that might leave students feeling inferior or superior based on race, gender, ethnicity, or another attribute, and also applies to training done by state agencies.
Earlier this year, state lawmakers proposed a repeal, eliciting more than 1,000 letters to the House Education Committee. The Hechinger Report, in partnership with The Boston Globe Magazine, analyzed a 264-letter sample to get a sense of both sides. Most (94 percent, or 248 letters) supported repeal, citing concerns such as a climate of fear among teachers and the worry that history couldn’t be taught fully and honestly. In 16 letters opposing the repeal, most argued there was a need to keep teachers from indoctrinating students in critical race theory (a legal concept not typically used in K-12 schools) and that only parents should teach children about political doctrine.
EXCERPTS FROM COMMENTS SUPPORTING REPEAL OF THE DIVISIVE CONCEPTS PROVISION:
“If an individual or a country cannot learn from mistakes of the past and work to change, where will we all be?”
A.O. OF GILMANTON
“The Divisive Concepts law has a chilling effect on teachers, who are afraid to teach honest history for fear of losing their jobs. This is straight out of George Orwell’s novel 1984, not what we want in 21st century New Hampshire.”
B.K. OF AMHERST
“[T]he best hope for our nation to free itself of the terrifying legacy of racial injustice lies in facing this truth, learning from it, and choosing not to let either our past nor even our present define and determine our future.”
J.G. OF MERIDEN
“It is hard to talk about real history — the history of oppression in this country, that it was built on slavery and stolen land, and genocide and Holocaust studies — but we must talk about this real history in order to understand modern social ills and how to combat them.”
AMANDA TOLL OF KEENE, STATE REPRESENTATIVE OF CHESHIRE 15 DISTRICT AND A FORMER SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHE
EXCERPTS FROM COMMENTS OPPOSING REPEAL OF THE DIVISIVE CONCEPTS PROVISION:
“Kids do not need to be looking at people with a twisted racial slant. Kids are not born racists. Teaching them this sort of thing trains them to be.”
N.M. OF BELMONT
“When you hear buzz words like equity, systemic racism, unconscious bias and privilege, you can be sure that you are hearing radical Critical Race Theory repackaged, which only sow the seeds of division and hatred, and have no place in the public school system.”
L.K. OF BERLIN
This analysis about “divisive concepts” laws was produced by The Hechinger Report and The Boston Globe Magazine. Linda K. Wertheimer is an independent journalist and Hechinger contributor, and Cathy Ching is a Globe correspondent.