Mississippi House Passes Bill to Ban DEI Programs in Public Schools and Colleges

A bill to ban Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, from public schools and public colleges in Mississippi has passed the House, and the Mississippi Senate is slated to take up its own DEI ban legislation in the coming days.

After heated debate and opposition from House Democrats, who staved off the final vote for House Bill 1193 for as long as they could, the measure passed with 74 in favor and 41 against, strictly along party lines.

Only one member of the chamber cast a "not voting", while four House representatives were counted as absent.

Before it passed, the House Judiciary A Chairman and bill sponsor Joey Hood, R-Ackerman, faced heated opposition from House Democrats who pleaded with members not to vote for the measure. House Minority Leader Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, said the political move serves only to discriminate against minority groups in the state.

Several amendments were also offered on the bill by Democrats, but they all failed.

"This has nothing to do with anybody being discriminated against. This has more to do with a racist concept," Johnson told the Clarion Ledger after the vote. "The fact that the state of Mississippi is passing a piece of legislation that trifles with racist tropes and concepts is disappointing to me, and the fact that the leadership endorses racist concepts in the state of Mississippi is not anything that lends itself to progress."

In a somewhat rare move, one House Democrat even motioned for the bill to be read, which is a local form of filibuster. The bill was then played aloud to the chamber at a quicker than intelligible speed.

Hood, in response to several House members' concerns, simply disagreed with the assertion that the bill would discriminate against minority groups or seeks to dismantle their protections. He argued the bill supports an inclusive environment.

"(We) can continue to work through the process as we go and send it down there to the Senate," Hood said before the bill was voted on. "We will continue to work on it, hopefully the Senate will take it up and pass it."

The Senate is also slated to address its own DEI ban legislation, University and Colleges Chairwoman Nicole Boyd, R-Oxford, told the Clarion Ledger after the House vote. Boyd, who was present in the House chamber during the debate between Hood and House Democrats, declined to comment on HB 1193's passage.

If the House version were to pass through both chambers, it would prohibit public schools or colleges from establishing or having DEI programs, prohibit the use of diversity statements in hiring, training, or other materials. It would also include private schools.

The bill would also designate public schools, the Institutions of Higher Learning, and state community colleges board to only promote that there are two genders within written materials. Every year, those agencies and boards would have to submit written reports detailing their compliance to the governor and the legislature.

The Attorney General would also have the responsibility of enforcing compliance with the proposed law. If the government agencies do not comply, their funding could be withheld from them until they do.

The bill came before the House as states around the country are considering anti-DEI legislation. Diversity, equity, and inclusion offices on college campuses have long faced scrutiny by the Republican Party, but the backlash reached a fever pitch during President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. While on the campaign trail, Trump vowed to eliminate DEI efforts.

During his first week in office, Trump signed executive orders to shutter DEI offices within the federal government.