Texas Passes Bill Banning Critical Race Theory From Classrooms

The Texas Senate passed legislation Saturday that would ban Critical Race Theory from being taught in schools.

Although the bill passed the House on May 11, it will have to be reintroduced to the House after receiving revisions by the Senate.

Critical Race Theory, according to New Discourses, suggests racism is present in everything under a  doctrine known as “systemic racism.”

After the passing of the bill Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick denounced Critical Race Theory as an inherently wrong thing to be taught in schools, according to The Hill.  

“House Bill 3979 makes certain that critical race philosophies, including the 1619 founding myth, are removed from our school curriculums statewide,” Gov. Patrick said. “When parents send their children to school, they want their students to learn critical thinking without being indoctrinated with misinformation charging that America and our Constitution are rooted in racism.”

“Texans roundly reject the ‘woke’ philosophies that espouse that one race or sex is better than another and that someone, by virtue of their race or sex, is innately racist, oppressive or sexist,” he added.

The bill would require teachers to teach viewpoints on race relations and how they shaped history “from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.”

Mark Wiggins, a lobbyist for The Association of Professional Educators, tweeted:

“By telling teachers what and how to teach and ordering TEA to play police, HB 3979 may be one of the most disrespectful bills to teachers I’ve seen the #txlege dignify with debate.”

Other such bills have sprung up across the country.

On Wednesday, 20 state attorney generals sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona stating how their states oppose critical race theory being taught in classrooms.

“The proposed priorities are a thinly veiled attempt at bringing into our states’ classrooms the deeply flawed and controversial teachings of Critical Race Theory and the 1619 Project,” the letter read.