Oklahoma City Community College: Class on Race in the United States āPausedā After Legislation on āRace or Sex Stereotypingā
Cases
Oklahoma City Community College
Case Overview
On May 18, 2021, Oklahoma City Community College informed Melissa Smith that the summer session of her sociology course, āRace and Ethnicity in the U.S.,ā would be canceled pending a review for compliance with HB 1775, a recently adopted bill that bans teaching of certain āconceptsā in K-12 institutions and limits certain ātrainingā in colleges and universities. On June 2, FIREwrote to the public college, explaining that the law does not reach classroom teaching in higher education and would violate faculty membersā academic freedom rights under the First Amendment if it did. Public records obtained by FIREshowed that the cancellation was precipitated by a parentās complaint about ācritical raceā and a studentās complaint about a video on redlining. On June 4, the college restored the class.