HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Texas slammed over proposal to call slavery 'INVOLUNTARY RELOCATION' in public schools

The board is considering curriculum changes one year after Texas passed a law to eliminate topics from schools that make students 'feel discomfort'

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Public schools in Texas would describe slavery to second graders as “involuntary relocation” under new social studies standards proposed to the Texas State Board of Education, but board members have asked them to reconsider the phrasing, according to the state board’s chair. “The board -- with unanimous consent -- directed the work group to revisit that specific language,” Keven Ellis, chair of the Texas State Board of Education said in a statement issued late Thursday, June 30. A group of nine educators, including a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, advised the education board to make changes in the social sciences curriculum for second graders, as reported by The Texas Tribune.

The board is considering curriculum changes one year after Texas passed a law to eliminate topics from schools that make students “feel discomfort.” The suggested change surfaced late during its June 15 meeting that lasted more than 12 hours. Board member Aicha Davis, a Democrat who represents Dallas and Fort Worth, brought up concerns to the board saying that wording is not a “fair representation” of the slave trade. “For K-2, carefully examine the language used to describe events, specifically the term ‘involuntary relocation,’” the state board wrote in its guidance to the workgroup.

RELATED ARTICLES

The radio call that first revealed scale of Texas migrant horror

Border crisis: US accused of not treating migrants equally amid dangers of sexual assault, theft and kidnapping

“I can’t say what their intention was, but that’s not going to be acceptable,” Davis told The Texas Tribune on Thursday, June 30. The educators received a huge backlash when the proposal to change the curriculum was announced on Thursday, June 30. "Republicans now refuse to use the word 'slavery,'" Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut tweeted.

"'Involuntary relocation' for chattel slavery?" tweeted lawyer, human rights activist and former New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley. "Human bondage? The selling and buying of human beings from Africa or descended from Africans? Do people understand that for millions of u, this is family history? That for the country this represents a civil war?"

"So that's what we're doing now??...Involuntary Relocation," sports analyst and former NFL player Shannon Sharpe tweeted. "What are we calling the working w/o pay, the killings, the beatings and the raping of young girls and women? What's a fancy new term for that."

"This was always the point of the CRT hysteria—to teach white children that slavery was just 'involuntary relocation' so they don't feel bad about what their ancestors did to Black people in this country," journalist and legal analyst Imani Gandy tweeted. "Classic fascist move."

"No," tweeted singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash. "'Involuntary relocation' is when the Four Seasons is sold out and you have to go to a Hyatt Place."

"Literally unreal: Some Texas educators want to whitewash slavery as 'involuntary relocation,'" tweeted film critic Steven D Greydanus. "Texas law already mandates framing racism and slavery as 'deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to' the nation's 'authentic founding principles.'"

Twitter users also condemned educators proposal to change the curriculum and showed outrage. "1. Calling slavery anything else is unacceptable and disturbing. 2. Why would slavery be a part of any type of second grade instruction? IMHO, eight year olds cannot comprehend such a nuanced topic," a user wrote. "Can you imagine how those students will be laughed out of a college classroom if they called slavery, "involuntary relocation?"", wrote another. 

The board will continue to discuss curriculum proposals over the summer before making a final decision on the new standards in November.