All 14 black Mississippi state senators, all Democrats, walked out before a vote on a bill that forbids teaching students at public schools and colleges that 'that any sex, race, ethnicity, religion or national origin is inherently superior or inferior.'

The bill later passed passed 32-2, with only two Democratic legislators - David Blount and Hob Bryan, both white - voting against it. It now heads to the Mississippi state House for approval.

The unprecedented walkout on Friday followed a two-hour debate when Democratic lawmakers asked whether or not Critical Race Theory (CRT), which centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation's institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people in society, is actually taught in Mississippi schools. 

'Have you identified one teacher, one school district where this is happening?' asked Senate Minority Leader Derrick Simmons, a Democrat. 

Republican Senator Michael McLendon conceded on the Senate floor that he had not heard of any schools teaching students that they were inferior or superior based on their race, but said an overwhelming number of his constituents had raised concerns about the curricula being taught across the country based on what they heard 'on the national news.' 

The bill's passage makes Mississippi the latest state to take a legislative stance on Critical Race Theory - although the controversial teaching is never mentioned by name or defined within the document. Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Florida, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Tennessee have already banned the academic theory, according to Newsweek.