Muslim Texans seek positive teachings of Islam as education board wraps social studies changes

Muslim Texans pressed State Board of Education members on Monday for more classroom instruction centering on how people of Islamic faith positively contributed to world history.

With the majority-Republican board expected to finalize what high schoolers learn in social studies this week, dozens of speakers said current proposals falsely and unfairly paint Islam as violent and incompatible with American values.

Muslim Texans pointed to a recommendation, for example, that would require public school students to learn that “radical Islam” motivated the 9/11 attacks, as opposed to more narrowly focusing on terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and extremists such as Osama bin Laden. Notably, a Muslim-American EMT was among those killed while attempting to save lives during the tragedy. 

The speakers criticized another proposal that students learn about early Islam through the lens of “the Prophet Mohammed’s brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes, the normalization of slavery, and the taking of female captives as harem slaves.” No credible Islamic scholar would find such a portrayal accurate, the Muslims argued. 

They also slammed an earlier board decision to scrap an expectation that schools teach about Muslim contributions to algebra and astronomy. Students testified that the decision to do so will cause significant harm to them and their classmates. 

“I feel attacked, as if my religion doesn’t belong,” Habiiba Quresh, 15, told board members. “I shouldn’t have to defend my religion in the middle of history class because of one sentence someone on this board wrote. 

Final revisions to high school history, government and geography studies come after the board’s Republican majority approved changes to Texas’ K–8 social studies materials in June alongside a mandatory reading list that includes Bible stories. 

The group postponed four of the upper level courses after members expressed concerns about rushing the process and potentially causing unintended errors. Monday was the first opportunity for the board to make progress on the remaining classes, with final votes expected Friday. The elected officials will resume discussions Tuesday. 

The contentious process to rewrite social studies has stretched several years. The board delayed changes to the courses in 2022 after pressure from conservative lawmakers who complained about how students would learn about topics such as race and gender.

Those leaders and activists now champion the current proposals, which they view as the final battle in a push to rid Texas schools of instruction they say paints America in a negative light and trains students to hate the country. 

Hundreds of people have testified at meetings that often extended overnight, well into the early morning. Throughout the board’s deliberations, many Republicans have attacked Islam, which they see as incompatible with their interpretation of Christianity. 

“All they need to know is how evil Islam is,” Chuck Allmon, one of over 100 people who spoke Monday, said of Texas students. 

Democrats, educators and students, meanwhile, criticize the minimization of racial, ethnic and cultural diversity reflected in U.S. and world history courses, as well as the materials’ hefty emphasis on Christianity. 

The education board will decide, for example, whether students must graduate with the ability to describe arguments against “the modern welfare state that emerged from continued expansion of Great Society programs.” The Great Society refers to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1960s policy agenda that sought to abolish poverty and racial inequality.

Another proposal would ensure students learn how “biblical imagery and founding principles of equality and justice from the Declaration of Independence” connect to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. 

Some speakers noted Monday that the recommendations whitewash other aspects of Christianity, such as how white Americans used it to justify violence against Black Americans.

“Slavery existed for thousands of years before Islam,” said Sarah, an 11-year-old softball player who did not provide her last name. “It is unfair to label slavery as Islamic without also discussing the Christian role in the slave trade to the Americas.”

Many teachers have said they felt excluded from the revision process as the board majority placed more value on the input of conservative activists than on their own. Others point to a lack of transparency as the reason for their frustration, noting the difficulty in figuring out who influenced the lessons’ conservative approach.

The new social studies framework notably eliminates the current sixth-grade world cultures course, which some educators see as evidence that Texas officials do not prioritize traditions outside of Western civilization. They believe the lack of emphasis will diminish students’ knowledge of the world beyond America. 

Texas schools will begin phasing in the adopted social studies changes during the 2030-31 school year. 

On Monday, Republicans on the State Board of Education welcomed another member to their majority, temporarily increasing the conservative presence to 11-4. 

Houston Democrat Staci Childs vacated her seat as she campaigns for the Texas House. Gov. Greg Abbott has since replaced her with Pasadena Republican Tammie Nielsen, who will serve on the board through the end of the year. Democrat Coretta Mallet-Fontenot will appear on the November ballot to permanently serve as Childs’ replacement.