“The board — by unanimous consent — directed the task force to review that language,” said Keven Ellis, president of the Texas Board of Education. Meanwhile, the board will continue to work on the curriculum later this summer, according to Aicha Davis, a state board of education member who represents parts of Dallas and Tarrant counties. “I have a hard time seeing how it’s acceptable to replace the phrase ‘slave trade’ with the phrase ‘involuntary relocation,’” Davis told CNN. “We were given a 24-page document with recommendations from a task force that looked at kindergarten through second grade,” Davis continued. “And within the second grade standards, that’s where I found that they suggested we talk about their journey using the phrase ‘involuntary relocation.’” The proposed language comes as the idea of teaching critical race theory in U.S. classrooms has become a contentious debate involving parents, school boards and lawmakers across the country. The concept seeks to understand and address inequality and racism in America. The term has also been politicized and attacked by its critics as a Marxist ideology that poses a threat to the American way of life. According to Davis, there was some discussion by the Texas Department of Education about “why they chose that language.” “They wanted to make sure they introduced slavery at a younger grade level, but they wanted to make sure they were being intentionally careful with their age appropriateness,” Davis said. Davis added that while she understands the age factor in this case, it’s important that students are taught the truth about American history. “We have to think of appropriate ways to talk about it that don’t diminish what happened during the slave trade,” he noted. “How can we continue to put more of these stories into our social studies classes and how do we make sure our younger students have access to it and it’s age appropriate, but at the same time it creates a foundation of real knowledge that students really deserve to know us”.
Curriculum won’t hide slavery, board president says
Davis believes that Senate Bill 3 passed last year likely influenced educators’ discussion of curriculum. The law — which Davis described as “the anti-criticism race theory bill” — reshaped how social studies teachers can discuss race and current events in their classrooms. “(The bill) specifically says you can’t make a student feel uncomfortable, and so he was given a copy of that law as they did the review and a lot of the products that we received. It seems to be a reflection of some of the things that they existed in that law,” Davis explained. Ellis, the board president, confirmed to CNN that students will be taught the true history of slavery. “There was not and is not a proposal by the State Board of Education that would in any way aim to hide the truth from Texas second graders about slavery.” He reiterated that the term “involuntary relocation” does not “paint a clear or complete picture” of the enslaved African people. “As a result, (the board) voted unanimously to send the language back for editing. This painting is devoted to truth, which includes accurate descriptions of historical events. “Our state curriculum will not downplay the role of slavery in American history,” he added. The subject of slavery is not currently addressed in the second-grade curriculum, Ellis noted. “This work is intended to address that deficiency. And it’s important to reiterate that (the board) has the final say on the draft language produced by any of the task forces,” he said.
