Texas Mexican-American Course Approved by School Board

In Texas, a Mexican-American elective course won preliminary approval from the State Board of Education in everything but name Wednesday, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The course was approved under the new title "Ethnic Studies: an Overview of Americans of Mexican Descent," after board member David Bradley balked at the original Mexican-American studies title, according to the newspaper.

After being pushed by fellow board member Marisa Perez-Diaz as to why he was requesting the name change just before the vote, Bradley claimed the Mexican-American title would create divisiveness, the American-Statesman reported.

"I guess the argument for the gentlelady is, why not do this?" Bradley told Perez-Diaz, according to the Dallas Morning News. "I don't subscribe to hyphenated Americanism. ... I find hyphenated Americanism to be divisive."

Perez-Diaz, who voted against the amendment approving the name change, told the board that changing the name sends the wrong message, the Morning News reported.

"I think a vote in support of the change in this language, like this, sends a message that we are not about inclusivity," Perez-Diaz responded to Bradley, per the Morning News. "I do not want to go down this rabbit hole."

Board member Georgina Pérez, the only Democrat to join Republicans to vote for the name change, said she didn't want to risk the chance of the board voting down the course because of the name, the American-Statesman reported.

"It was evident in the meeting that if the name change hadn't occurred, nothing would have gone forward," Pérez said, per the American-Statesman. "I'm not willing to risk a potential opportunity."

While a final vote looms Friday, Tony Diaz, a Houston-based author and educator who fought for the Mexican-American studies course, praised the board's preliminary decision despite the name change, according to the Dallas Morning News.

"This demonstrates the vast intelligence of our community, our creativity, our energy," Diaz said, per the Morning News. "And because of our numbers, because of our education, because of technology, because of our community's increasing resources, we are the generation that can accelerate the genius of those who have come before us. Generations of students — from all backgrounds — will benefit from this knowledge."

If approved Friday, Texas would join Arizona as the only states to offer such a course as an elective statewide for its public schools, the American-Statesman reported.

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