Confusion reigns in Texas as new state law aims to restrict how race and history are taught in schools

San Antonio, Texas CNN — A new Texas law aimed at restricting discussions of race and history in schools has some educators second guessing themselves and forgoing civics-related activities to avoid running afoul of it. While some school districts are waiting for official guidance on what the law means for them, others are making curriculum changes “out of caution.” The law states that social studies teachers can’t “require” or include in their courses, the concept that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex” or the concept that “an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” It also notes that “a teacher may not be compelled to discuss a particular current event or widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs.” Teachers, according to the bill, can’t require or give extra credit for a student’s political activism. At a Tuesday webinar organized by the Association of Texas Professional Educators, the largest teacher union in the state, members asked whether they will be allowed to discuss redlining in the classroom or let their students listen to clips from Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech and his famous “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” Renee Blackmon, president of the Texas Council for the Social Studies, said some teachers are fearful of what will happen to them if a lesson “touches tangentially on racism” and they are second guessing their lesson plans. “We do teach current events and present both sides, our teachers weren’t teaching critical race theory in their classrooms,” Blackmon said. There’s this misinformation that has clouded things.” Parents in Fort Worth, Texas, held protests and spoke at school board meetings earlier this year demanding that teachers don't include critical race theory in the curriculum.