Good morning, 

Should “critical race theory” be taught in our public schools? That’s the subject of the One Click Survey at the end of today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Modify your email preferences.

• Legislation originally designed to ban “critical race theory” in Texas public schools was significantly altered in the Texas House after Democrats added multiple amendments to water down the bill. And it was watered down with the blessing of the bill’s Republican author, Steve Toth of The Woodlands. Iris Poole and Brandon Waltens have the details.
      
• Growing numbers of parents have expressed concern about the imposition of critical race theory in public schools. The framework has come under fire from conservatives for its ties to Marxist ideology. As filed, HB 3979 was intended to reject CRT and equip Texas students with an understanding of the foundation of the United States and self-governance.
       
• Predictably, Democrats piled on to attack the bill and its author. Toth, meanwhile, received no assistance from his colleagues in the Republican Caucus or the Freedom Caucus. (Republican Kyle Biedermann of Fredericksburg was spotted standing beside Toth at the front mic during the relentless and insulting cross-examination performed by Democrats.)
     
• As debate wore on, Toth didn’t just allow Democrats to add leftist tripe to the curriculum he designed – he also allowed them to strip portions of it away. For example, he allowed on an amendment by State Rep. Nicole Collier (D–Fort Worth) removing Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America from his proposed curriculum.
      
• In the end, none of the capitulations mattered; Democrats opposed the bill on the final vote. The watered down bill passed mostly along party lines.
     
• Lesson: If Toth and the GOP had stood their ground and fought, the original bill would have passed.

• There are just a precious few conservative Republicans in the Legislature, and they seem incapable of debating themselves out of a wet paper bag. They allow themselves to believe “if I am nice to the Democrats they will be nice to me.” Unsurprisingly, it never works. They get rolled by the Democrats every time. Every. Single. Time.

• As an aside, yesterday saw the Texas House overwhelmingly give final approval to the dubious House Bill 3. To his credit, State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) tried to awaken his colleagues to the problems, speaking passionately about the constitutional defects in the legislation.
       
• In response, the bill’s author – Lubbock Republican Dustin Burrows – described constitutional concerns as “highfalutin” and suggested the courts would have to figure it out.
        
• If there was any doubt, I guess we know how little Mr. Burrows thinks of that oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State” taken by legislators.

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has blasted the Plano Chief of Police for appeasing a “militant” protest by the fringe group Black Lives Matter. Joshua Pierce has the story.
   
• A video released over the weekend shows a BLM mob blocking the road at a highway overpass. A driver of one of the blocked cars is seen angrily asking the mob to get off the road so people can pass. A Plano police officer seemingly takes the side of the mob, and against the outraged citizen.
     
• “We must not let lawlessness take root in Texas!” – Ken Paxton

• “Do you hear that?” asks Jeramy Kitchen in explaining the final days of the legislative session. “That’s the subtle sound of bills dying.”

       
• Day 122 of the 140-day legislative session marks one of the first of several important, self-imposed legislative deadlines in the Texas House. That day falls on Thursday, May 13.  This means that lawmakers can no longer take up House bills or joint resolutions that are not already on a daily legislative calendar posted by that date.
       
• In reality, any legislative calendars posted in the few days leading up to that deadline end up being generally meaningless. Multiple delay tactics are used by different factions within the House to ensure there isn’t enough time for consideration of those bills in the first place.
      
• For example, a measure like House Bill 1399 by Matt Krause (R-Haslet) is unlikely to be considered given its place way at the end of the calendar. This is the Republican Party of Texas priority legislation prohibiting physicians from conducting gender transition surgeries or administering puberty blockers to minors.  
      
• And that placement is a purposeful decision of two Republicans: House Speaker Dade Phelan (Beaumont) and Calendars Committee Chairman Dustin Burrows (Lubbock).

• Speaking of medically changing the gender of children… 93 percent of Texas GOP voters affirmed a ballot question in 2020 proposing that such things be banned. Jacob Asmussen looks at what Phelan and Burrows – with the approval of their Republican colleagues – have prioritized instead of Krause’s HB 1399.
        
• Over the weekend they took time to name San Marcos the “mermaid capital” of the Lone Star State. Yesterday, they took time to name Llano the “official barrel racing capital of Texas,” and decide that Missouri City is our “hip-hop capital,” and set the official mushroom (Chorioactis geaster). And way ahead of HB 1399 is a measure designating Dr Pepper as the official soft drink of Texas. 
      
• Are those your priorities?

ONE CLICK SURVEY

Should “Critical Race Theory” be taught in Texas’ public schools?
    

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!

Today In History

On May 12, 1903, the University of Texas’ spirit song – “The Eyes of Texas” – was first publicly sung at a minstrel show benefiting the school’s athletic teams. It is set to the tune of “I’ve Been Working On The Railroad.” 

“The Eyes of Texas” is now under attack by the university’s predominantly leftwing student body and faculty as racist.