You might have noticed that the state of Texas is trying to discourage, even ban, the teaching of critical race theory.
Larry Hufford, a professor at St. Mary’s University here in San Antonio, wrote a piece for the local paper day explaining why he teaches a theory, even thought it infuriates the state’s top political leaders.
He said he’d been teaching a course called the Practice of Citizenship for a decade. “Responsible citizenship encourages students to learn, among other things, systemic causes of racism,” he said.
Before critical race theory came to the attention of anyone in state government, the Catholic Church had a long history of teaching against systemic racism and the duty to pursue social justice.
Hufford cited this line from Pope Paul VI in 1971: “Men rightly consider unjustifiable and reject as inadmissible the tendency to maintain or introduce legislation or behavior systematically inspired by racialist prejudice.”
In his Practice of Citizenship course, Hufford teaches students how to use the tools of critical race theory and Catholic social teaching to try to improve society. It’s a duty — what people of faith are supposed to do.
It’s not clear how the statesmen in Austin think they are going to stamp all this out. Perhaps they have a theory that uprooting centuries of Christian teaching would make Texas a better place to live. Perhaps they could tap the state’s rainy day fund to build a coliseum and buy some lions … you know, to handle the Catholic professors who refuse to recant.
The good news is that this nonsense is not likely to go far. The bad news is that is has been going on forever — at least as long as I can remember.
In Texas, the learning curve for state government is a flat line.
• Source: Larry Hufford, “Let’s not be so critical of race theory,” San Antonio Express-News, Nov. 12, 2021, p. A14.
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