Departments

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Texas

  • SOURCE: CNN
    7/19/2021

    Texas Senate Declares War on History

    by Julian Zelizer

    "Though much of the debate is being framed as being about "Critical Race Theory" -- a term that is politically useful since most Americans have no idea what it means -- it's really about teaching the history of race relations and civil rights."

  • SOURCE: The New Republic
    6/14/2021

    How Deep Is America’s Reckoning with Racism? (Review Essay)

    by Kerri Greenidge

    "Juneteenth has gained recent popular attention after white Americans responded to last summer’s mass protest movement in the most American way possible—through token gestures of “historical reckoning” rather than actual atonement through, say, restoration of Section 4b of the 1965 Voting Rights Act."

  • SOURCE: Slate
    6/11/2021

    The 1836 Project Is an Opportunity

    by Brian Franklin

    Texas history teachers should take Governor Greg Abbott at his word, and teach the state's history from its founding documents. The governor and conservative supporters of a new law on teaching history might not like the results, though. 

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    6/4/2021

    The Bright Side of a Bad Texas History Bill? It’s Too Late to Whitewash the Past

    by John Morán González and Benjamin H. Johnson

    "The authors of HB 3979 assume that teachers left to their own devices will present their students with the dark and vexing chapters of Texas history. Perhaps on some level they realize that control over the narrative of Texas history has escaped their grasp."

  • SOURCE: Texas Standard
    5/19/2021

    Five Things Missing From Asian American History In Texas Schools

    KERA spoke to educators including historian Madeline Hsu about what Texas students are missing out on when it comes to Asian American history. They said the lack of diversity, notable figures and modern-day connection are some of the key issues.

  • SOURCE: Texas Monthly
    5/19/2021

    The Next Battle of the Alamo! (Excerpt)

    A new book takes on Texans' embrace of the Alamo myth and the politics of preserving the site, with an odd detour through the Alamo memorabilia collection of British pop star Phil Collins. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    5/4/2021

    Black America’s Neglected Origin Stories

    by Annette Gordon-Reed

    History education helps create "origin stories" for individuals and groups that affect how people see themselves and their society. The narrowness and incompleteness of African American history as taught in schools supports limited understandings of Black identity. 

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    5/8/2021

    Alamo Renovation Gets Stuck over Arguments about Slavery

    Renovations to the Alamo have hit a predictable political snag, as conservative Texans insist that the site maintain its denial about the slaveholding of many of the Alamo's defenders or the pro-slavery ambitions of the Republic of Texas and threaten to block bills encouraging more historically informed exhibits. 

  • SOURCE: Texas Tribune
    5/4/2021

    Tensions Boil at UT-Austin over "The Eyes of Texas"

    "Kendall Walker, a UT-Austin senior who is part of the student strike in the admissions office, said she thinks administrators wrongly assumed the issue would die down after the school formed a committee this past year to study the song’s origins."