Sarah Huckabee Sanders hoped to duplicate Florida’s draconian education policies in her state, but the Republican Arkansas governor has been slapped with a lawsuit as a result. It couldn’t happen to a nicer hateful person. And it’s thanks to a high school teacher in Little Rock, three students, and their parents. The group is suing the state over its ban on “indoctrination” in public schools and argues the edict is unconstitutional.”

“It absolutely chills free speech” and “discriminates on the basis of race,” the suit says.

Arkansas is among a passel of GOP-infected (see what I did there) states that passed a law last year banning critical race theory, a framework that argues racism is an institutionalized part of the U.S., Queerty reports. To my way of thinking, racism is indeed embedded in the ramparts of this country. Its history snakes through the very foundations of this country. And the dumb thing here is that even though critical race theory isn’t taught in public schools, Republicans want to ban it anyway.

I mean after all, if they can sweep it under the rug they won’t have to feel so bad about it. Out sight, out of their minds.

Sanders included her state’s ban on this invisible practice in the LEARNS Act, her major education overhaul. Sanders and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva hatched this abomination. You may remember Oliva is the architect of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, but the LEARNS Act places draconian restrictions on classroom discussion. Funny how measures with names like this are the complete opposite of what they suggest.

But the LEARNS Act doesn’t just attack critical race theory. It also prohibits classroom discussion on sexual orientation and gender identity. We all know how much Sanders hates anything like that, now don’t we?

The teacher who launched the suit works at Little Rock Central High School, and this is quite noteworthy on a historical level. The high school is the sight of the 1957 racial desegregation crisis, where nine Black students enrolled in the formerly all-white school.

“Indeed, defendants’ brazen attack on full classroom participation for all students in 2024 is reminiscent of the state’s brazen attack on full classroom participation for all students in 1957,” the lawsuit says.

But where there’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders, you can be sure there are other stifling laws, and one in particular may prevent Little Rock Central High School from learning this history. The decision prompted Arkansas schools to entirely remove the course.

There is one other bit of good news, however. While Sanders was intent on copying Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his dystopian agenda has come back to haunt him. Courts have taken apart Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, which prohibits instruction in schools or mandatory training in places of employment that suggest a person is either privileged or oppressed due to their race, orientation, or gender identity. Fortunately, this measure has lost a good deal of its thunder as an appeals court ruled it couldn’t apply to colleges or universities. The court also recently included business in with this. One justice echoed my thoughts, calling the bill “positively dystopian.”

As Truthout reports, 21 of 22 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were eliminated in Florida’s most recent legislative session.

And Sanders being the trans/homophobe that she is has done whatever she can to oppress LGBTQ+ people but her efforts have been scrutinized increasingly. That bit of good news means a federal judge slapped down the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

This makes me think of a wonderful quote by the brilliant writer, Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Slaughterhouse-Five and Sirens of Titan, who famously said:

“You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society.”

That teacher, those students, and their parents who are suing Sanders come to mind here.