Texas passes a bill to counter critical race theory in schools
Critics say Texas is declaring a war on history
by promoting white supremacy
But wait… is that true?
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So, according to CNN,
Texas has declared war on history!
That’s what you get for messing with Texas, history!
According to multiple news reports,
a new bill introduced by Republican lawmakers in the Texas Senate
will radically alter what gets taught in Texas schools.
No more Civil Rights rights movement.
No more Martin Luther King Jr.
And the KKK is no longer morally wrong.
This article in The Nation says the Texas Senate bill
“raises the prospect that Texas students could finish K-12 education
with scant knowledge of the civil rights movement.”
Which is alarming,
since Texas students already finish their education with scant knowledge
that cowboy hats don’t make them look as cool as they think they do.
The Huffington Post calls the new bill “a new political low.”
Although I think the lowest political point I’ve seen involving a politician from Texas
is still this.
“Please clap.”
Yes, I know Jeb Bush was governor of Florida,
but he grew up in Texas,
and frankly this level of political cringe transcends state lines.
Back to the Texas Senate bill.
Texas Democrats are up in arms.
State Representative James Talarico says the Republican bill is,
“a frightening dystopian future that [is starting] to come into focus.”
Which is almost as terrifying as an out of focus dystopian future.
Other Texas Democrats said Republican Governor Greg Abbott
doesn’t want kids to learn that white supremacy is morally wrong.
That he’s trying to recast the KKK as the good guys.
I don’t know if I’d go that far.
This pandemic has shown Greg Abbott
isn't a fan of establishments that make people wear masks
And get this—Texas isn’t alone.
Many other states are doing the exact same thing.
“But Texas is now one of at least 26 states
that have proposed or have passed laws restricting
or banning classroom discussions of concepts relating to race and racism
that Republican lawmakers say are divisive.”
Leah Wright Rigueur: “When you look at these states that have banned the Critical Race Theory,
they’re banning the study of race and racism in America
and they are banning anything that essentially upsets this idea
that America is this perfect united place.”
Whoa whoa whoa, hold the phone.
Banning Critical Race Theory is the same thing
as banning the study of race and racism?!
Are we sure we’re all talking about the same thing?
Looks like it’s time for another segment of
Wait, is that True?!
More after the break.
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So you know, when you hear sensationalist news stories like,
Texas stops teaching that the Ku Klux Klan is morally wrong,
it’s kind of like when a suspiciously hot woman
with a new Facebook account
messages you saying she wants to “make the kissing”
but needs your social security number.
Before you get too excited about it,
you might want to take a moment and ask yourself,
Wait, is that True?
So a lot of states have started banning Critical RaceTheory in K-12 schools.
Now obviously,
all of us learned in school that slavery was bad
and what happened to the Native Americans was horrible.
And this was all possible in the days before Critical Race Theory was taught in schools.
So then this raises the question, what is Critical Race Theory?
What is actually being taught to children?
Well, to quote one of the leading pro-Critical Race Theory voices, Ibram X. Kendi ,
“The most threatening racist movement is not the alt right’s unlikely drive for a White ethnostate
but the regular American’s drive for a ‘race-neutral’ one.”
Now some people talk about judging people not by the color of their skin
but by the content of their character.
Remember, it doesn’t matter what someone looks like.
All that matters
is that they’re not a ventriloquist.
But the new message is, being race-neutral is actually bad.
“The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.
The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”
That sounds like he wants to create an endless cycle of discrimination.
And this is why Critical Race Theory is so controversial,
and why Republican lawmakers in Texas want to ban it.
It’s essentially a way to look at the history we all learned about,
but through the Marxist lens of class struggle—
that there must always be opposing groups
bent on destroying each other.
For a more indepth look at Critical Race Theory, check out our previous episode,
“Is Marxism Invading our Schools”
Still one of our best thumbnails.
Across the country,
more and more parents are saying Critical Race Theory
has no place in schools.
“What kept me down?
What oppressed me?
I worked myself from off the streets to where I am right now.
You’re going to sit here and tell me this lie of Critical Race Theory,
of this is the reason why black folks can’t get ahead because of white folks?
Are you kidding me?”
Of course please don’t listen to what that man says.
It’s all a part of the GOP’s strategy!
Letting parents share their opinions?
Diabolical!
So what was actually in the bill
that has led to claims Texas is stripping the KKK
and Civil Rights teachings from school curriculum?
Well, Texas House Republicans wanted a bill to ban Critical Race Theory.
“Texas Republicans wanted to be sure teachers aren’t telling your kids
that white people are inherently racist.
So, this last session, they made a list of concepts public schoolers
should and should not learn.”
Sadly, how dorky they look in cowboy hats didn’t make that list.
Now Texas House Democrats were not happy.
They were operating under the premise
that banning Critical Race Theory means banning all conversation
about slavery and the civil rights movement.
So a compromise was reached.
“To get that bill through the House,
the Republican authors allowed Democrats to tack
on a whole host of other issues that the Democrats wanted to talk about.”
Democrats included requirements for what had
to be taught in public schools.
These include lessons on things like Martin Luther King, Jr.,
the Emancipation Proclamation,
Native American history, women's suffrage,
the History of the KKK,
and the ways in which white supremacy is morally wrong.
All great lessons to learn.
If only certain Democrats also learned
this doesn’t make you seem as woke as you think it does.
State Representative Talarico , who I mentioned earlier,
is a major opponent to the bill,
he says “the amendments the House added
were essential to ensure that we were teaching students
all of American history —
the good,
the bad,
and the ugly,”
Talarico also said these amendments
“were put in place to ensure that teachers
wouldn’t be punished for telling their students the truth.”
In June, Texas Governor Greg Abott signed the bill into law.
It was set to go into effect in September.
But then the twist!
This month, Republicans in the Texas Senate passed another bill
that took out most of what the House Democrats added.
Which is why you have headlines saying
the Texas GOP wants to dump MLK
and whitewash the KKK.
Of course, whitewashing is the KKK’s favorite type of washing.
So, is the Texas GOP really trying to ban
teaching about Martin Luther King Jr. in schools?
Let’s put this story to rest after this final commercial break.
Welcome back.
So it is true the Texas Senate passed a bill
that removes the requirement to teach that the KKK is morally wrong.
But headlines like these are misleading.
Cutting out a provision citing the KKK
doesn’t mean that Texas is banning teaching about the KKK.
It just means it isn’t required.
Kinda like how it isn’t required to teach atomic wedgies in school, either,
but I still learned about them.
The hard way.
In fact, none of the things taken out from the House bill
will be banned from classrooms.
That’s because those things are already included in the Texas Administrative Code,
which covers Texan education policies.
The Texas Administrative Code says it is essential for schools
to teach about how Jim Crow laws
and the KKK created obstacles to civil rights.
The roles of political organizations and leaders
who supported various rights movements.
The impact of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s writings.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
And how Whataburger is superior to In-N-Out.
The list goes on.
So why did this new Republican Senate bill cut all that stuff?
Well, according to the author, Senator Bryan Hughes,
that’s because legislation isn’t supposed to be a detailed curriculum.
He’s saying a “specific reading list doesn’t belong in statute.”
And instead, these requirements should be developed by the State Board of Education.
“Each school would be responsible for deciding
whether or not to teach” the topics omitted from the Senate bill.
Makes sense.
It’s probably a good idea that politicians don’t decide
what books kids are forced to read.
To make it even clearer,
an amendment to the bill against Critical Race Theory
later clarified the bill would not prevent teachers
from discussing things already included in the required curriculum.
And again, teaching about MLK and civil rights and the KKK
are already included in the required curriculum.
So no topics are actually being banned by the Senate bill.
Not even atomic wedgies.
The bill just puts the decision on what topics to cover
in the hands of the State Board of Education.
And again, the topics that Democrats were worried about
are already in the curriculum.
But that hasn’t satisfied critics of the Senate bill.
Critics say removing the topics from the list of requirements
means teachers “may come under scrutiny due to the vague,
anti-critical race theory language.”
Republicans, after all, have made it clear this bill is meant to oppose critical race theory,
including the 1619 Project.
Lucky for Critical Race Theory proponents,
the Senate Bill is like a 46 year-old DJ
taking his G.E.D. for the third time:
He probably won’t pass.
To become law, the bill must pass the state’s House of Representatives.
The problem is, 51 Democrats left the state to D.C. earlier this month
to block a voting bill.
The Senate can’t hold a vote otherwise.
We can also thank Governor Abbott for threatening to arrest Texas Democrats earlier this month.
“As soon as they come back in the state of Texas, they will be arrested,
they will be cabined inside the Texas Capital until they get their job done.”
Nothing like threatening to imprison your political opponents.
That’ll get them to pass a bill they already don’t like.
As I said before,
the left and right seem to have a very hard time
finding ways to talk to each other in a meaningful way.
Wherever you are in the political spectrum,
I don’t think any normal American
would say they’re opposed to learning from our past mistakes
about slavery and racism.
What we disagree on is how we interpret and frame our history.
Are we a country that’s getting better?
Or getting worse?
And the fact we can’t even communicate with each other about it,
that’s the biggest political low since—
“Please clap.”
So what do you think about the Texan Senate bill?
Let me know in the comments below.
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Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching America Uncovered.