State Senator: Teachers Should Be Impartial On Nazis

The Indianapolis Star reports:

During a committee hearing Wednesday about Senate Bill 167, a wide-ranging bill inspired by the national discourse over critical race theory, history teacher Matt Bockenfeld raised concerns about what the bill would require of teachers. “For example, it’s the second semester of U.S. history, so we’re learning about the rise of fascism and the rise of Nazism right now,” Bockenfeld said. “And I’m just not neutral on the political ideology of fascism. We condemn it, and we condemn it in full.”

Sen. Scott Baldwin, a Republican from Noblesville, said that may be going too far. Baldwin said he doesn’t discredit Marxism, Nazism, fascism or “any of those isms out there.” “I have no problem with the education system providing instruction on the existence of those isms,” he said. “I believe that we’ve gone too far when we take a position on those isms. We need to be impartial.”

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Baldwin now says he misspoke and was actually referring to “legitimate political groups.” Baldwin, a freshman senator, is a former Indianapolis police officer.

In October 2021, Baldwin’s name was found a hacked list of alleged Oath Keepers members. He denied belonging to the group but refuse to condemn them.