A group of Texas educators has proposed that slavery be referred to as "involuntary relocation" during second-grade instruction, the Texas Tribune reported.
The Texas State Board of Education has asked the group — one of many tasked with advising the board on changes to the social studies curriculum — to reconsider the phrasing, the Tribune reported.
"The board — with unanimous consent — directed the work group to revisit that specific language," Board of Education Chair Keven Ellis said in a statement issued late Thursday.
Ellis added that slavery currently was not included in social studies instruction to second graders, and "this [group's] work is meant to address that deficiency," the Tribune reported.
The board this summer will consider updates to social studies instruction a year after lawmakers passed a law to omit topics that make Texas students "feel discomfort." A final vote on the curriculum will come in November.
The proposal to describe the slave trade as "involuntary relocation" surfaced during the end of a June 15 board meeting that lasted more than 12 hours.
"I don't know if that's a fair representation of what we should be saying about that journey," board member Aicha Davis, a Democrat who represents Dallas and Fort Worth, said.
On Thursday, Davis told the Tribune that, "I can't say what their intention was, but that's not going to be acceptable."
The board sent back the working draft of the group's proposal for revision.
"For K-2, carefully examine the language used to describe events, specifically the term 'involuntary relocation,' " the board wrote the group.
The work group proposing the second-grade curriculum had been given a copy of Senate Bill 3, Texas' law that dictates how slavery and issues of race are taught in Texas. The law states that slavery can't be taught as part of the true founding of the U.S.
"They were given Senate Bill 3, so that had to have influenced their mind with that being a document given to them right before they had to perform this review," Davis said, the Tribune reported.
Texas attracted attention in 2015 when it was discovered a state-approved social studies textbook called slaves brought to the U.S. "workers."
Candidates backed by conservative political action committees (PACs) swept Texas school board elections held May 7, as last year's nationwide pushback against critical race theory materialized into on-the-ground victories.
All 15 candidates endorsed by the 1776 Project PAC won their races across six school districts representing suburban Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston, the group announced through Twitter.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.