California professors sue colleges over 'totalitarian' rules that make them 'teach and preach' austere 'anti-racism' they don't agree with, in policy affecting 1.8M students

A group of professors has sued California's community colleges for making them teach 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) ideas they don't agree with, saying it violates their First Amendment rights.

The six professors at three Fresno-area colleges say they have to 'teach and preach' austere 'anti-racist' views, under rules affecting more than 54,000 educators and some 1.8 million students.

Their papers were filed this week by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Fire), a free speech group.

Fire lawyer Daniel Ortner called the state's DEI rules a 'totalitarian triple-whammy.'

California professors Linda De Morales and Bill Blanken say they're forced to 'teach and preach' an austere form of 'anti-racism' at their community colleges 

The rules dictate what some 54,000 professors must relay to 1.8 million students. Pictured: Students at Madera Community College

'The government is forcing professors to teach and preach a politicized viewpoint they do not share, imposing incomprehensible guidelines, and threatening to punish professors when they cross an arbitrary, indiscernible line.'

Professors who don't follow the rules will struggle to get promoted and could lose tenure, court papers show.  

The college system has not yet commented on the case.

Advocates of DEI schemes say they tackle longstanding racist and sexist discrimination in schools and workplaces, but critics say they end up stoking divisions between groups and marginalizing white men.

The professors are James Druley, David Richardson, Linda de Morales, and Loren Palsgaard of Madera Community College; Bill Blanken of Reedley College, and Michael Stannard of Clovis Community College.

Their suit takes aim at the 'new diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility rules,' which the academics say they have to 'teach and preach.'

Under the system, educators must promote 'anti-racism' and 'acknowledge' the 'multiple axes of oppression that people from different racial, ethnic, and other minoritized groups face.'

The case refers to an official glossary of DEI terms, which covers everything from 'color blindness' to 'covert racism,' 'implicit bias,' 'privilege,' and 'white immunity.'

According to the glossary, there's no such thing as 'reverse racism.'

Professors Loren Palsgaard (left) and David Richardson are also object to the stringent guidelines

The case takes aim at California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian (left), State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith, and others 

That term was 'created and used by white people to erroneously describe the discrimination they experience' when minorities call them out, it says.

The glossary also takes aim at the concept of 'merit' and college testing systems.

This is not a 'neutral measure of academic achievement' but part of an 'ideology of whiteness' designed to keep minorities down, it says.

In a separate California DEI document, professors are told not to take academic freedom too far.

They should not 'weaponize' academic freedom to 'inflict curricular trauma' on students, says the document.

Palsgaard, an English professor at Madera Community College, said this is problematic for teachers who try to present contrasting views.

'Hearing uncomfortable ideas is not curricular trauma, and teaching all sides of an issue is not weaponizing academic freedom,' said Palsgaard, one of the plaintiffs.

'That's just called education.'

Another plaintiff, Blanken, of Reedley College, said he struggled to cram DEI ideas into his chemistry classes.

'What's the anti-racist perspective on the atomic mass of boron?' he said.

The professors' 219-page complaint was filed at the US District Court in Fresno this week. 

They want the DEI rules declared unconstitutional and ended.

They also want their costs and legal fees paid.

The papers name the college system's Chancellor Sonya Christian, the State Board of Governors, the State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith, and the District Board of Trustees.

Melissa Villarin, a spokeswoman for the college chancellor's office, said they do 'not have any comment on this pending litigation at this time.'

'Our response opposing the plaintiffs' request will be in court filings expected to be filed in the next day or so,' she told DailyMail.com.

The case is just the latest example of educators complaining of bullying by education chiefs into parroting DEI principles they don't agree with — and of struggling to get hired or getting sacked when they don't.

For some, DEI schemes are important and necessary, as they can help to overcome historical racism and sexism and make it easier for people of all backgrounds to get ahead in education and work.

But many conservatives say DEI is a form of reverse discrimination that unfairly blows back on white men.

Others say DEI schemes may be well-intentioned, but seldom achieve their desired goals and often make things worse by stirring up divisions in offices and classrooms.

DEI staff now make up more than 3.4 positions for every 100 tenured professors, according to nationwide research by The Heritage Foundation, stoking fears of a ballooning sector that some say is no more than a woke box-ticking exercise.