Texas

Texas's History is Under Ideological Attack—from the Right

by John R. Lundberg

A retired oil billionaire is trying to wrest control of the Texas State Historical Association from professional historians because they no longer support a vision of the state's history that gives white Anglo settlers pride of place in a diverse state. 

Jeremi Suri: Texas Higher Ed Conflict "Doesn't Have to Be This Way"

The UT-Austin historian previously worked in Wisconsin when Governor Scott Walker went to war with the university system. He discusses the similarities and differences a decade later in Texas. 

Dangerous Records: Why LGBTQ Americans Today Fear the Weaponization of Bureaucracy

by Emily Hand

Requests made by Texas's Attorney General for information about gender change requests on drivers' licenses and other documents alarmed transgender advocates because the data could support an official list of trans Texans at a moment when the group faces public vilification. History shows that innocent bureaucratic records can be used oppressively.

Texas GOP's Ten Commandments School Bill Fails

The Texas House did not have the votes to pass a bill approved by the state senate that would have required the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. 

Texas Schools to get Chaplains and the Ten Commandments under Legislation

After a Supreme Court ruling favored explicitly Christian prayer led by school officials at school functions, Texas conservatives feel empowered to put more religion into public schools. 

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Opposes Texas Legislation

"Truthful and inclusive discussions about United States and Texas history and their connection to present-day inequalities are essential to accurate and quality academic instruction."

Texas Mall Shooting Raises Question: What Makes a Person of Color Embrace Far-Right Extremism?

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Daniel Martinez HoSang, a professor at Yale University, about what attracts people of color to far-right violent movements rife with bigotry.

How Media Discussions of Tenure Distort its Meaning and Undermine Academics

by Deepa Das Acevedo

Tenure absolutely does not provide "a job for life" for anyone, but the belief that it does is used to justify political attacks on academics. 

Statehouse Assaults on Tenure and Diversity are Impacting Hiring at State Universities

"In Florida, some candidates’ concerns are so profound that they’re turning down job offers in the state — despite not having other offers, said Andrew Gothard, president of the United Faculty of Florida, a union representing faculty at all 12 of the state’s public universities, a private one, and community colleges."

Wealthy Texas Activist Sues President of State's Historical Association

The suit by J.P. Bryan, a retired oilman and the executive director of the private Texas State Historical Association, which produces many important educational materials, claims that the board has too many academics and is too critical of the Anglo settlers of the state. Historian Nancy Baker Jones, the TSHA President, is the principal target. 

Texas Senate Approves Bill Requiring Ten Commandments Display in Schools

"Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement that both bills are wins for religious freedom in Texas."

Greg Abbott Claims to Boost Texas Universities. Why Is He Attacking Tenure?

Attacks on tenure and diversity programs would threaten the improvements Texas politicians say they want to make in higher education in the state, say faculty advocates. 

Trans Texans, Fearing Violence Inspired by Legislation and Rhetoric, Look to Armed Self-Defense

Supporters of gender-related legislation deny that they want to eradicate transgender Texans, but members of that community fear that political rhetoric suggesting they are child abusers will encourage vigilantes who are already staging armed protest at LGBTQ events. Like other Texans, many are arming themselves. 

"If they were White and Insured, Would they have Died?"

by Udodiri R. Okwandu

Texas's new maternal mortality report shows that historical patterns of medical racism are continuing, and the state plans to do little but blame Black women for the inadequate care they receive. 

Texas's Abortion Ban Can Never be Made Humane

by Mary Ziegler

When abortion access depends on establishing that a pregnant woman deserves an exception to a ban, the law will inevitably prevent doctors from serving patients with problem pregnancies. 

Texas Legislation Takes Aim at University DEI Programs

The legislature would prohibit the operation of DEI offices on public campuses in Texas and maintain a list of university staff who violate the law, with consequences for employment. 

A Different Kind of Unfree Labor Haunts a Houston Suburb

by Ashanté Reese

Texas's convict labor system was a first step in reasserting white dominance over Black labor through criminal law. The discovery of remains of convicted laborers on the site of a former prison farm show the need to reckon with unfree labor after the end of slavery. 

Those "Local" School Battles in Texas are Part of a Decades-Long Statewide Plan to Undermine Public Schools

Advocates of privatizing public schools have bankrolled and organized parents' groups around a range of values issues with the goal of undermining confidence in local schools. In Texas, it seems to be working to break down the longstanding opposition of rural families to voucher programs. 

The History of Mexican Americans in Austin

by Cynthia E. Orozco

A historian works to develop a chronicle of Mexican American community events in the city of Austin with a local community newspaper. 

Can Americans Understand the Divisions in Latino Politics?

by Geraldo Cadava

Despite the lip service both parties pay to welcoming (and deserving) the growing Latino vote, do their non-Latino leaders actually understand the complexities of this large demographic category? Do they want to?