BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other people of color) histories are under attack in Texas.

On July 9th, Bryan Hughes, a Republican member of the Texas State Senate, introduced bill 87(1) SB 3 for committee consideration in the state legislature. The bill effectively seeks to erase marginalized histories from "the social studies curriculum for each grade level from kindergarten through grade 12." On July 16, the bill was passed in the Senate.

Just take a look at one of the parts of the bill that removes from the curriculum "the history of white supremacy, including but not limited to the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong." Among the other provisions is the removal of "the history of Native Americans" and elimination of "historical documents related to the civic accomplishments of marginalized populations," including those related to "the Chicano movement," "women's suffrage and equal rights," and "the American labor movement" from the curriculum. 

If Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 3 into law, "Martin Luther King Jr.'s... 'I Have a Dream speech," "the Emancipation Proclamation," "the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth," Amendments to the United States Constitution," and "The United States Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education," would all be eviscerated from classrooms. Names like Frederick Douglass, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Héctor P. García would disappear from curricula.

What would remain would be a condensed, whitened version of the history of Texas and the United States that ignores BIPOC struggles and triumphs. How can students be equipped to reckon with the racial realities of today without knowledge of our racist past?

As a first-generation Asian-American, I am deeply concerned by Hughes' crusade against diverse narratives within Texan and American history. Racism is an infection. By ignoring it, we only allow it to clench its fist more tightly around our society and systems. Only by having frank conversations and uplifting BIPOC narratives from the very beginning, starting with our K-12 classrooms, can we spark meaningful change.

Join me in showing Hughes and the Texas House of Representatives that legislation stifling marginalized stories and voices in our classrooms is regressive and unacceptable. Act now against SB 3 by sharing this petition and taking a stand.

Want to take more direct, personal action? Go to the Action Center: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XFY8EnI7Q9QkbEqOunyNQICzNg0a8xnbZywJ5Dez5i8/edit?usp=sharing

Full text of the bill: https://capitol.texas.gov/Search/DocViewer.aspx?ID=871SB000031B&QueryText=%22social+studies%22&DocType=B