DES MOINES, Iowa — On Tuesday, Iowa House Republicans passed three bills that take restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion in the state even further.

Three bills passed: House File 269 that bans Iowa’s public universities from requiring a course that has topics or instruction of items related to DEI or critical race theory; House File 401 that states required courses cannot include materials that teach identity politics, systemic racism, oppression or distort historical events; and House File 856 that bans DEI offices at all Iowa community and private colleges in the Iowa Tuition Grant. It also bans local governments and state agencies from spending money on DEI offices or staff.

“Almost half of surveyed college students agree that some speech can be so offensive in certain cases that it merits such harsh penalties or punishment, like the death penalty,” said State Representative Henry Stone (R) District 9 from Forest City. “DEI ideology that is being taught to our kids and it is destroying, in my opinion, our country.”

On Wednesday morning, the Iowa House Black Caucus wanted to respond to remarks made during debate and the bills that were passed on Tuesday.

“The fact that diversity is the reason that there are accessible elevators in this building. It’s the reason that we take the act of including and being inclusive of people. It’s the reason why the Republicans put forward in the bill in support of service animals. That’s inclusion,” said State Representative Ross Wilburn (D) District 50, from Ames. “They chose to talk about race.”

“It didn’t just happen. It came about because this was a solution to an issue and a problem that was facing, not just Iowa, but an issue that was facing us here in America, and so, dismantling that dismantles the progress Iowa has pushed for,” said State Representative Rob Johnson (D) District 34, from Des Moines. while referencing members of the 55th General Assembly where 90 plus House Republicans voted to move for equality and end segregation in schools before Brown v. Board of Education was taken up in the United States Supreme Court.

Another member of the Black Caucus spoke about comments made about how its members did not reach out to any House Republicans during the last two months when these bills were moving through the process.

“I feel like there were comments made yesterday about the Black Legislative Caucus and how we are not reaching out to individuals on the other side of the aisle,” said State Representative Jerome Amos Jr. (D) District 62, from Waterloo. “That is not correct. I call it political fodder, is what I call it. And for me, we reach out, we talk to folks. You have to understand that we are not communicating as much as we probably could. But also the other side was not reaching out to us. And I firmly believe that we have to, as a body, start communicating with each other.”

Members of the caucus asked Iowans to reach out to their representatives and senators, republicans or democrats, to urge them not to advance these three bills. Also calling on the governor to not sign these bills into law if they make it out of the Iowa Senate chamber this session.

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