BY: ANNELISE HANSHAW
Missouri Independent
Some worry the anti-discrimination legislation could be used against protesters on college campuses
The Missouri House gave initial approval Monday to a bill that seeks to prevent antisemitism in public schools and colleges, with some raising concerns it could punish those who speak out against Israel.
The bill would require the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Department of Higher Education to assign a staff member to monitor “antisemetic discrimination and harassment” and investigate whether schools have responsibility for incidents. It also encourages schools to teach pieces of Jewish-American heritage.
State Rep. George Hruza, a Republican from Huntleigh, said the bill was inspired by his mother, a Holocaust survivor who had frequent nightmares about her time in a concentration camp.
“It was not until we arrived in the United States that the nightmares went away and she started speaking about her experience and embraced her Jewish heritage,” Hruza said. “She felt safe in the United States. On Oct. 7, 2023, that all changed.”
That day, Hamas attacked Israel and started the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups. The conflict spurred the highest number of antisemetic incidents in a year recorded by the Anti-Defamation League.
Hruza hopes the legislation can cut back on these incidents, citing a recent case in Affton where a man spray-painted Nazi and white supremecist graffiti on school buildings.
Dissent for the bill stems from the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. The definition has been adopted by a majority of U.S. states and included in orders at the federal level — though the lead drafter of the definition has spoken against its application “as a tool to target or chill speech on a college campus.”
Alongside the IHRA definition are examples of antisemitism, which the bill adopts. The list includes “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and applying double standards to Israel as discriminatory. Both Hruza’s bill and the IHRA say criticism of Israel is okay when it is “similar to criticism toward any other country.”
When a House committee debated the bill earlier this year, some argued the legislation was an “attempt to silence criticism of Israel on college campuses.”
State Rep. Stephanie Hein, a Springfield Democrat, voted “present” in committee on the bill and struggled to weigh the good pieces against controversial elements.
“There is a lot of emotion behind this subject… and there are a lot of good things in this bill,” she said Monday. “The area of contention is the definition that is used.”
State Rep. Wick Thomas, a Kansas City Democrat, asked Hruza if the bill “might also be about ending critiques of Israel and the Palestinian conflict.”
“The bill is intended to keep the Jewish students safe on campus. It really is not taking sides or some kind of position on the conflict in the Middle East,” Hruza said.
Although the bulk of the bill’s pushback came from Democrats, positions were not clearly split by party lines.
State Rep. Ian Mackey, a Democrat from St. Louis, said he didn’t think the legislation would impede free-speech rights.
“The First Amendment has always confined speech to a reasonable time, place and manner,” he said. “You do not have the right to do that on a college campus in front of students who are simply trying to get to class.”
Republican Rep. Darin Chappell, of Rogersville, told Hruza he had concerns.
He has argued in the past against recognizing minority groups in state law, Chappell said, “to be lionized and set above on a pedestal.”
He can’t set those convictions aside, Chappell said, simply because “it is one of my colleagues on this side of the aisle that is presenting (this bill).”
The House approved the bill with an amendment from Democratic state Rep. Raychel Proudie of Ferguson that bans schools from discriminating against textured hair and protective styles, like locks and braids. The legislation is often dubbed the CROWN Act and has been proposed by Missouri lawmakers since 2020.