During a recent hearing before the Kentucky House Interim Joint Committee on Education, State Senator Lindsey Tichenor introduced legislation seeking to remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices from K-12 education curricula across Kentucky. The proposal drew sharp criticism when Representative Sarah Stalker (D-KY) made comments about her personal experience with racial privilege.
Stalker stated: “I’m going to be honest, I don’t feel good about being white every day for a lot of reasons, because it’s a point of privilege that I get to move through the world in a way that so many of my other colleagues and friends and family members in the community don’t get the privilege to do.” She added: “I think we’re missing an opportunity when kids have a moment to reflect about how the color of their skin does and does not allow them to move through the world.”
Tichenor countered by calling Stalker’s remarks an example of how DEI ideology “warps a person’s brain.” The senator criticized DEI initiatives for lacking focus on academic achievement, noting state-wide declines in math and reading proficiency. Tichenor also cited financial concerns, including credit card statements revealing a $30,000 expenditure on DEI-related travel to Australia.
Furthermore, Tichenor highlighted the Biden administration’s allocation of over $1 billion into DEI programs, which she argued has inflated administrative costs without producing measurable academic improvements. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights recently notified Jefferson County, Kentucky, that its racial equity funding model violated Title VI by unlawfully considering race and engaging in so-called racial balancing.
