An eastern Ohio lawmaker last week figuratively staked out a position for the state that would prohibit introducing elements of critical race theory or so-called anti-racist education into public schools or any state agency.

Freeport Rep. Don Jones, a Republican, said there is no place in public education for what he believes amounts to indoctrination.

“The goal of that indoctrination is to alter how our children view the United States,” he said. “The goal is to train children to believe the United States is fundamentally racist and by association our children are somehow inherently racist.”

Filed as House Bill 322, the measure lists 11 prohibited concepts from being introduced in public schools, community and STEM schools, school districts and state agencies.

Included on the list are the concepts that one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex and that an individual, by virtue of his race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive — whether consciously or unconsciously.

“These are not controversial,” Jones said. “They are morally right. As Dr. (Martin Luther) King (Jr.) said, we should not be judged by the color of our skin, but the content of our character.”

The lawmaker also cited the slain civil rights leader’s “I Have a Dream” speech — “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity.”

“Simply, students should not anguish over, nor feel bad about who they are,” he continued. “And no child should be told that X race did Y and you’re a member of X, therefore you are bad as well.”

Another of the prohibited concepts is the notion that the country’s founding corresponded with the arrival of the first African slaves to North America in 1619, as purported in the New York Times’ controversial and now widely discredited 1619 project.

“Just because the bill prohibits inculcating that the United States and its citizens are inherently racist does not mean the unfortunate parts of our history cannot be taught,” the lawmaker told his peers at the State and Local Government Committee in the Ohio House of Representatives. “Nowhere in this bill does it say the atrocities of racism, slavery and their effects on our nation and the nation’s laws cannot or should not be taught.”

Rather, those subjects need to be taught, he added.

“We all must learn of the horrible things that happened in Tulsa, Okla., the Jim Crow South, or ‘redlining’ that still affects housing loans today,” he said.

Some Democrats disagreed with the proposal and with Jones’ understanding of both history and reality.

“What we teach our kids matters,” Cincinnati Democratic Rep. Brigid Kelly said in prepared remarks. “That’s why it’s so important that our teachers are able to teach the truth. Denying reality and limiting the scope of our children’s education sets us up for failure now and in the future.”

She claimed such instruction would ensure younger generations would understand and value diversity.

Jones said he agrees with King’s assessment of the country — that it is fundamentally good.

“Again, the purpose of school is to educate students,” he said. “School is not about pushing ideologies or telling students to think a certain way. Too often teachers are telling students what to think, and not teaching them how to think. HB 322 is about protecting the integrity of our education system and ensuring our students are learning real facts.”

Solon Rep. Phil Robinson, a Democrat, faulted Jones’ proposal for “usurping” locally elected school boards and “forcing teachers to deny reality.”

The bill, which enjoys widespread co-sponsorship support in the House, awaits further consideration by the committee.