Conservative lawmakers denounce critical race theory and say it facilitates racism. Some teachers say it actually informs their efforts to counter racism in the curriculum and classroom, even though they don’t teach it directly to students.
Isabella Zou
Isabella Zou is a summer reporting fellow at The Texas Tribune. She is a rising junior at Yale University, where she studies Ethnicity, Race and Migration and is a Yale Journalism Scholar. Isabella has worked as an inequity and disparity reporting intern for the CT Mirror and an intern for the Austin American-Statesman’s Westlake Picayune. She serves as editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News Magazine, a monthly publication for narrative journalism, fiction, poetry and the arts. An Austin native, she enjoys dancing, singing and eating all tacos. Isabella is fluent in Mandarin.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Dallas County, Bexar County officials fight Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates in court
The local officials are asking for courts to rule that Abbott’s ban on local mask mandates is unenforceable.
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Graphics and data reporting
Texas teachers say GOP’s new social studies law will hinder how an entire generation understands race, history and current events
Educators who spoke to The Texas Tribune overwhelmingly denounced the new social studies law going into effect Sept. 1. These are the provisions they say could cause problems for them — and Texas students.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Martin Luther King Jr.’s son says Texas Republicans are misrepresenting his father’s words in effort to whitewash history
Republican Texas lawmakers have justified their efforts to limit how racism and current events are taught in school by saying that critical race theory judges people by the color of their skin. Martin Luther King III and experts disagree.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Senate advances bills limiting education about race, access to abortion-inducing medications. The House is still sidelined.
It’s largely symbolic, but the Texas Senate is nearing the end of its work on Republican priorities for the special legislative session after passing bills limiting “critical race theory” and abortion access Friday.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Senate bill seeks to strip required lessons on people of color and women from “critical race theory” law
The bill would also remove a requirement to teach that white supremacy is “morally wrong.” One Democratic lawmaker said the bill’s attempts could lead to a “frightening dystopian future.”
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Politics
State museum canceled book event examining slavery’s role in Battle of the Alamo after Texas GOP leaders complained, authors say
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick confirmed on Twitter that he called for the event to be canceled. Abbott, Patrick and other GOP leaders are board members of the State Preservation Board, which oversees the Bullock museum.
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Criminal Justice
Collin County detention officers won’t face charges over in-custody death of Marvin Scott III
Since Scott’s death, family members had led regular demonstrations outside the Collin County Jail. Multiple news outlets reported that a grand jury recommended the formation of a group to study Scott’s death, which had been ruled a homicide.
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Demographics
What is critical race theory? Explaining the discipline that Texas’ governor wants to “abolish”
Those who study the discipline say attacks on it are targeting any teachings that challenge and complicate dominant narratives about the country’s history and identity.
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Politics
Donald Trump to tour border wall with Gov. Greg Abbott on June 30
Abbott announced last Thursday that Texas would build its own border wall to stem the flow of migrants from Mexico.