The Texas House passed Tuesday a bill that would limit the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in state schools.
House Bill 3979 was passed by a 79-65 vote that came after four hours of heated debate on the floor, The Texas Tribune reported. The bill now advances to the state senate, where the GOP lawmakers have already passed a similar legislation, according to the report.
BREAKING: The Texas House of Representatives has passed legislation banning critical race theory indoctrination in education. The bill, which now goes to the Senate, would prohibit public schools from promoting race essentialism, collective guilt, and racial superiority theory. pic.twitter.com/4mSgFHJ5uz
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) May 12, 2021
The bill does not specifically refer to the concepts as CRT listing a number of controversial concepts to be outlawed instead.
Those mentioned in the text of the bill include ideas that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex,” “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist,” “any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex” and others, according to the text of the document. (RELATED: Rep. Mark Green Introduces Bill To Block Critical Race Theory Training In US Military Service Academies)
“House Bill 3979 is about teaching racial harmony by telling the truth that we are all equal, both in God’s eyes and our founding documents,” Republican Texas state Rep. Steve Toth, the sponsor of the bill, said Monday on the House floor, according to The Texas Tribune.
Despite almost unanimous opposition from the Democratic lawmakers to the bill’s sentiments, Toth accepted several amendments from them, including expansion of the list of “founding documents” that the legislation mandates schools to teach, the report says.
The amendments made Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream” speech “founding documents.”
A similar bill became law in Arkansas in early May, where CRT education is now banned for state agencies.
CRT holds that America is fundamentally racist, yet it teaches people to view every social interaction and person in terms of race. Its adherents pursue “antiracism” through the end of merit, objective truth and the adoption of race-based policies.