Politics & Government
Civil Rights Groups Sue Fla., University System; Claim New Law Stifles Professors' Instruction About Race
Another plaintiff, a FAMU law professor named LeRoy Pernell, fears that his courses on race and law will be impacted by HB 7.
August 18, 2022
Another plaintiff, a FAMU law professor named LeRoy Pernell, fears that his courses on race and law will be impacted by HB 7, according to the complaint.
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“Dr. Pernell believes that his teaching methods cannot comport with the Stop W.O.K.E Act because he would not be permitted to endorse the view that concepts like ‘neutrality, objectivity, and racial colorblindness’ may have racist origins,” the complaint says. “To comply with the Act (HB 7), however, would directly conflict with a core tenet of his pedagogy: the idea that the legal system is not, and has never been, race-neutral.”
Other educators have similar concerns in the lawsuit, including an associate professor at UCF’s school of communications and an associate professor of measurement and statistics with FSU’s educational psychology department.
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The complaint reads that: “The Stop W.O.K.E. Act imposes unconstitutional viewpoint-based restrictions on instructors’ speech and is contrary to the principle of academic freedom. Instructors can no longer say anything in class that might be perceived as ‘woke,’ as that term is understood by the legislature, without reasonably fearing official consequences”
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