Democratic representative: If a bill can’t pass, it should make people think

BY SAMUEL MAURER | THESTATEHOUSEFILE.COM

Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, introduced House Bill 1017 knowing it most likely won’t be passed. His whole thought process behind it is to get people thinking.

“I’m just trying to send a wake-up. I didn’t expect to be able to get a hearing, I know it’s going nowhere, but I was trying to send a message,” Smith said.

HB 1017 would prohibit Indiana schools from teaching about Christopher Columbus or former United States presidents who were known to have slaves. However, the bill would allow instruction on these individuals if the teaching included the individuals’ ownership of slaves or the decimation of indigenous populations.

Smith says what led to the creation of the legislation was that he has seen bills in the last couple of years that deal with critical race theory or that look to change history, he said.

“My thought is, OK, if you want to change history, then I’ll help you change history,” Smith said.

He doesn’t actually want to erase these individuals from the textbooks. He just wants people to know the full story.

“I would want their stories told, but I also want people to know that there was an institution called slavery and that it was alive and well in this country and what they did to people,” Smith said.

Although he knows this was essentially a waste of one-fifth of his bills, Smith hopes to have woken some people up and made them think.

“I think you see, the central purpose of American education is to create critical-thinking individuals who are able to think,” Smith said.

Currently, the bill has been referred to the House Education Committee.