Martin Luther King II
On October 16, 2011, nation's first black president inaugerated the 30-foot-tall statue of country's civil rights leader Martin Luther King II, whose struggle for justice and equity for all led to the birth of a new generation of leaders and eventual ascendance of Barack Obama to presidency in 2008. The statue is the first for a black leader in the capital's iconic mall. The sculptor selected for this project was a Chinese artist, Lei Yixin. The design of the King's background, a stone extracted from the mountain, was inspired by his August 28, 1963, "Dream" speech: Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. Originally the memorial was scheduled to be dedicated on August 28, 48th anniversary of his "Dream" speech, but had to postponed because of Hurricane Irene.CRITICAL RACE THEORY
Critical Race Theory has become the latest political lightning rod for conservatives, and many legislatures are banning its teachings at their states' classrooms. In the 2021 regular legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed and Governor Gregg Abbott signed a law banning teaching of CRT in classrooms. Governor Abbott added the subject in the special session to "abolish" CRT teaching altogether. To add a more drama to that, the lone Black Texas House member, Rep. James White, on August 4, 2021 wrote a letter to Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton seeking his legal guidance for schools, local police agencies and other employers on CRT and "anti-racist" trainings and, at what point, these trainings would be deemed "unconstitutional". The genesis of CRT in the USA came from writings on this subject by the first Black law faculty member of the Harvard University, Derrick Bell. His writings shed a light into why gains from the 1960-era Civil Rights Movement had stalled in recent years and would continue to stall, or even backslide. Lawsuits have already been filed in several states over the CRT and "anti-racist" trainings. A White drama teacher at a school outside Chicago filed a lawsuit, alleging the trainings discriminated against the White educators on Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Rep. James White sought legal guidance from Paxton on the constitutionality of CRT and "anti-racist" trainings as explained by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
UT Laying off Former DEI Employees
That the outcome of the Texas SB 17 that banned the DEI in state institutions couldn't be better played out than the University of Texas on April 2, 2024 announcing layoffs of about 60 employees after UT President Jay Hartzell announced the shuttering of the Division of Campus and Community Engagement. The law which took effect on January 1, 2024 banned DEI offices at the state institutions. Many of the former DEI employees at the UT had been assigned to DCCE. Few days ago, Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, wrote a letter to university leaders, reminding them that running DEI functions under the aegis of a different name won't be tolerated.
UTD Lays off about 20 Former DEI Staff
University of Texas, Dallas President Richard Benson announced in an e-mail on April 9, 2024 that circa 20 former employees tied to the University's DEI program would be laid off effective April 30, 2024.
Abbott Threatens to Fire Texas A&M President
That Governor Gregg Abbott is giving himself the equivalence of political carte blanche is not an overstatement, or exaggeration, as The Dallas Morning News reported on January 15, 2025 that the Texas governor pointed out that the Texas A&M was sending a delegation to a conference exclusively geared towards the minority and, thus, violated the the letter and spirit of the Senate Bill 17 that banned the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, programs in academic institutions. Abbott wrote on the X that President Mark Welsh III would be fired if the violation was not immediately addressed.
Abbott Signs E.O. to Ban DEI Initiatives in State Agencies
After signing Senate Bill 17 in 2023 that banned the DEI programs in state schools and Universities, it was a matter of time that Texas Governor Gregg Abbott would grandstand sooner or later against perceived, or cooked-up, or real, DEI policies in his own government agencies. The time arrived on January 31, 2025 as Governor Gregg Abbott signed an Executive Order to proscribe DEI policies in state government agencies.
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State Lawmaker's Letter on Books Raise Alarm
A Fort Worth-area GOP lawmaker, Rep. Matt Krause, has recently sent a letter to unknown number of Texas ISDs asking whether school libraries have any book from a list of more than 800 books that he has identified in the letter and how much the districts have spent to buy those books . The letter also includes another thorny part, asking the school districts to identify book(s) or content that "contain[s] material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex". The Dallas Morning News in its October 29, 2021, edition spelled out the difficulties for the educators to address Rep. Krause's request on material which might cause "distress" because that's very subjective and would differ from student to student. Many education groups and Democrats are slamming the witch-hunt-style probe initiated by the chair of the House General Investigative Committee instead of the Texas Education Agency, and called out Rep. Matt Krause for his grandstanding in view of his recent decision to challenge Attorney-General Ken Paxton in the Republican Primary.
Abbott's War on Books on the Pretext of Fighting against Pornography
Governor Gregg Abbott sent letters earlier this week to Texas Education Agency, State Board of Education and Texas' library and archives commission to develop "standards" to weed out any pornographic content from school library. Although Abbott didn't mention any book in particular, the recent action by Keller ISD to pull Gender Queer: a Memoir by Maia Kobabe and Leander ISD to remove In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado had raised a specter of outside political pressures on educators, administrators and librarians to purge non-traditional books on the pretext of student discomfort or pornography. Gov. Abbott on November 10, 2021 doubled down by writing an additional letter to Mike Morath, TEA chief, to take immediate action against pornographic content in school library as agencies were developing appropriate "standards". Governor Abbott's war on so called pornographic content comes after one of his Primary rivals, former state Senator Don Huffines had zeroed in on school books and curricula, including Critical Race Theory, and days after Fort Worth Rep. Matt Krause sent letters to an unknown number of school districts to seek information on a list of more than 800 books.
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Several Law Enforcement Members are Oath Keepers, ADL Report Sows
Anti-Defamation League on September 7, 2022 reported its comprehensive research on Oath Keepers, an extreme right-wing organization, saying that among its 38,000 members, there were more than 370 law enforcement personnel, including sheriffs and police chiefs, more than 100 military personnel and more than 80 running for offices at different levels.
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