Nikole Hannah-Jones was presented with the Social Justice Impact award at the 53rd NAACP Image Awards ceremony on Saturday night.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of the 1619 Project called out Republican-backed efforts across the U.S. to ban critical race theory , while accepting the honor at the 53rd award show, which was hosted by Black-ish star Anthony Anderson.

As I receive this award tonight, our history is being attacked, she said at the event, which featured a number of virtual appearances on BET. In state after state, as of now, some 36 states have passed or are considering bills to make it harder to teach about racism and inequality.

Politicians are using the power of the state to whitewash an already whitewashed history, she continued. Books and ideas about the Black experience, about the LGBTQ community, are being banned. These anti-history laws go hand-in-hand with regressive policies that aim to restrict our civil and voting rights.

Hannah-Jones added that a healthy society does not ban ideas and that attacks on books are an attack on democracy.

The journalist joins a list of other honorees who were selected to receive special honors at the NAACP Image Awards this year. Samuel L. Jackson was given the Chairmans Award and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are recipients of the Presidents Award .

The NAACP established the Social Justice Impact Award to recognize someone who is on the frontlines impacting civil and social justice change .