"You might ask: Why in the world would a black person speak against ethnic studies? Because not everything that sounds good is good," said Minnesota mother of three Kofi Montzka.

Montzka joined other testifiers this week in speaking out against Gov. Tim Walz’s education policy, saying its focus on “ethnic studies” will teach black students “they can’t succeed.”

If passed, the bill would require schools to provide ethnic studies curriculum and direct the commissioner of education to “embed ethnic studies into state academic standards.” A separate bill would require all public school graduates to complete an ethnic studies course.