A bill to ban critical race theory curriculum in Texas public schools is now one step away from the governor's desk. House Bill 3979 cleared the Texas House this week, and now heads to the Senate for final approval. The bill states that teachers cannot "require or make part of a course" any teachings that "one race or sex is inherently superior to another" or that someone is "inherently racist, sexist or oppressive" based on their race or sex.
State Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) authored the bill, and tells KTRH he's confident it will pass the Senate. "Critical race theory teaches that we are hateful people, that we are white supremacists, and that means that any white person is a white supremacist," says Toth. "The number of calls we've had from teachers and parents has been absolutely overwhelming...we've got to make sure that this hateful rhetoric is not allowed to continue."
"We have no idea how many school districts are using this (curriculum)," he continues. "The crazy thing is most of the calls I'm getting from parents say that they're hearing this in English literature classes, not in social studies or history classes."
The bill appears likely to pass the Senate, since that body has already approved another version of the legislation and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has given his support to it. Toth tells KTRH the legislation is ultimately about giving parents more control over what is being taught to their children. "This bill steels the spine of parents, it gives them the ability to ask school districts to enforce it," he says. "But at the end of the day, if parents don't speak up, this stuff will continue to go on."