Texas educators propose referring to slavery as ‘involuntary relocation’ in new public school curriculum
A group of nine educators suggested the change in terminology at a June 15 meeting with Texas State Board of Education members.
The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) garnered national headlines in 2010 with their debate over revisions proposed for the history curriculum taught in Texas schools.
Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty ImagesA collection of educators have proposed curriculum changes for Texas elementary school students that would alter lessons involving discussions of American history to remove the word “slavery.”
As first reported by The Texas Tribune’s Brian Lopez, a group of nine Lone Star State educators on June 15 approached the Texas State Board of Education with a suggested curriculum that would replace “slavery” with “involuntary relocation” in certain lessons for second-grade students.
The tweaked language was featured in a suggested exercise in which students would “compare journeys to America, including voluntary Irish immigration and involuntary relocation of African people during colonial times,” according to Lopez. The suggested curriculum caught the attention of board member Aicha Davis, who sent the proposal back to draft for revision. A Black woman and Democrat representing the board’s Dallas-Fort Worth constituency, Davis said the altered wording obscures the historical facts of slavery and falls short of truthfulness.
“I don’t like it because it’s a personal belief,” Davis told Lopez. “I don’t like it because it’s not rooted in truth. We can have all the discussions we want, but we have to adopt the truth for our students.”
This summer the board will revisit the state’s social studies curriculum following the passage of new laws targeting how topics such as race and racism can be taught in Texas schools.
In December a new measure stating teachers “cannot be compelled to discuss a widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs.” The policy also mandates educators explore controversial topics “objectively and in a manner free from political bias.”
