A pair of bills introduced in the Arkansas legislature last week would prohibit the use of public school funds to teach certain race-centered curricula. The House Bill 1231 would restrict state funding from going to public schools and colleges that teach a curriculum based on the New York Times’ 1619 Project, which portrays the United States as an inherently racist nation founded upon slavery. The 1619 curriculum, developed by Pulitzer Center, was embraced by many public school districts across the nation, notably in Chicago, Illinois; Buffalo, New York; Newark, New Jersey; and Washington. Republican state Rep. Mark Lowery, who sponsored HB 1231, told Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that his bill is modeled after a U.S. Senate bill proposed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), which would prohibit the use of federal money to fund the teaching of the 1619 curriculum. “I think it’s appropriate and correct to present that information to students. What …