COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – A legal fight is continuing to unfold in Columbia over how race and gender can be discussed in South Carolina classrooms.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson (R-South Carolina) is urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from the South Carolina NAACP, which contests a one-year budget proviso enacted by the state legislature.

The proviso, added by the General Assembly in the state’s budget, limits how race and sex can be addressed in public school classrooms.

“This case centers on safeguarding students from encountering divisive or politically charged content,” Wilson stated. “My duty is to defend parents and children from having this kind of curriculum taught in public schools.”

The lawsuit, brought by the NAACP, a teacher, two authors, and several students, argues that the proviso breaches First Amendment rights. They claim it targets the regulation prohibiting the use of state funds to teach that one race or sex is inherently superior to another, or that someone is inherently oppressive due to their race or sex.

In a statement earlier this year, Brenda Murphy, president of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, said the policy is a “grave disservice to South Carolina students… an attempt to erase history, heritage, and the lived experiences of Black communities.”

House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford (D-74), who is also representing the NAACP in the lawsuit, voted for the overall state budget, even with the proviso included.

He said it’s common for lawmakers to support the budget as a whole, despite disagreeing with certain provisions.

“There’s a lot in the budget, you can’t just vote against the whole thing for one little item. Well, you could, but those are ideologues, and that never goes anywhere,” he said.

Both Rutherford and Wilson said they’re standing firm, though for very different reasons.

“We need to get out of this woke, leftist ideological indoctrination that so many people are trying to push on our children,” Wilson said.

“To suggest that whitewashing history is the way we should go has to be stopped, and if a lawsuit is the way to do it, then so be it,” said Rutherford.

Wilson was joined by Attorneys General from 16 other states in defending the proviso through a joint legal brief.

A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments in the case July 31 in Columbia.