The State Board of Education has voted to give the state’s newly approved Mexican-American studies curriculum its third name in three months, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
In April, after approving the curriculum for Texas schools, conservative SBOE member David Bradley protested calling it ‘Mexican-American studies.'
“I don’t subscribe to hypenated Americanism,” Bradley said at the time.
So, on Bradley’s motion, the course was named ‘Ethnic Studies, an Overview of Americans of Mexican Descent.’
But as you might expect, that name did not go over well, and protesters packed the board room on Wednesday to demand a change.
“I highly urge you to return it to its original name, and call it what it is, Mexican-American Studies,” UTSA student Victor Moreno told the board.
“Our name matters, our Mexican-American Studies name matters,” Dr. Diana Gano told the board.
So the board unanimously settled on a compromise, calling the course, “Ethnic Studies, Mexican American Studies.”
The new name does not include the hyphen that Bradley opposes.
Many experts in the field said the new name is fine, because, unlike the other name, it includes the phrase ‘Mexican American,’ but others said they will continue to lobby the board to return to the name ‘Mexican-American Studies.’