South to Freedom: Silvia Hector Webber, Mexican American Allies, and the Underground Railroad to Mexico, by Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D. July 21, 2026

South to Freedom: Silvia Hector Webber, Mexican American Allies, and the Underground Railroad to Mexico

by

Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

July 21, 2026

Silvia Hector Webber’s life illuminates a little-known but essential chapter ofTexas history: the Underground Railroad did not lead only north. For many enslaved Black people in Texas and other parts of the Southwest, freedom lay south—across the Rio Grande and into Mexico. Their journeys depended first upon their own extraordinary courage, but they were also assisted by networks of Black, Mexican, Mexican American, and white residents who provided food, shelter, directions, transportation, and protection (Baumgartner, 2020; Hammack, 2024).

Born into slavery in 1807 in Spanish West Florida, in an area that later became part of eastern Louisiana, Silvia was sold at the age of 12 for $550, roughly equivalent  to $11,568 in U.S. dollars 2025 according to Wikipedia, 2025).

She later came to Mexican Texas as the enslaved property of John Cryer. Between 1826 and 1829, she met John Ferdinand Webber, a white settler and business associate of Cryer. By 1834, while Silvia remained enslaved, she had given birth to three children with Webber (Hammack, 2024).

Any account of their relationship must recognize the profoundly unequal and coercive conditions created by slavery. Silvia did not possess legal control over her own person, and under the doctrine governing slavery, her children could also be treated as property. Whatever bonds developed between Silvia and John existed within a system that denied her autonomy and placed her and her children in continual danger of sale, separation, and exploitation.

On June 11, 1834, Silvia and John negotiated with Cryer to secure freedom for Silvia and their three children. Cryer did not demand payment simply in money or land. He required that the Webbers provide him with a two-year-old enslaved boy and provide a three-year-old enslaved girl to one of his relatives (Hammack, 2024). Later records discussed in the Wikipedia account indicate that the Webbers did not deliver the children and ultimately forfeited a substantial portion of their Webberville property to settle the debt associated with Silvia’s and her children’s freedom (Wikipedia, 2025).

This episode exposes the moral horror at the center of slavery: freedom for one Black woman and her children was assigned a price to be paid through the enslavement of other children. Silvia’s story must therefore be remembered not only as one of perseverance and eventual liberation, but also as evidence of slavery’s immense suffering—the sale of children, the commodification of Black bodies, the vulnerability of families to separation, and the ability of enslavers to extract wealth from the human desire to keep one’s family together.

Even after Silvia and her children gained their legal freedom, they continued to experience severe anti-Black racism. The Webber children were prohibited from attending the local school with white children, requiring the family to hire a live-in tutor. Although some neighbors respected Silvia for her intelligence, kindness, and generosity, they did not treat her as a social equal (Hammack, 2024; Wikipedia, 2025).

Conditions deteriorated further after Texas separated from Mexico and established the Republic of Texas in 1836. The new republic expanded and protected slavery, outlawed interracial marriage, and severely restricted the rights that free Black people had possessed under Mexican law. As settlers from the slaveholding South moved into Central Texas, the Webbers faced growing hostility, discriminatory treatment, and threats of violence. They also feared that slave catchers or so-called "Blackbirders" might kidnap Silvia or the children and sell them into slavery (Wikipedia, 2025).

By the early 1850s, the danger had become so great that the family left Webberville and relocated to the Rio Grande Valley. They eventually settled near present-day Donna, Texas, across the river from Reynosa, Mexico. There, they established the Webber Ranch and operated a ferry across the Rio Grande (Hammack, 2024).

Family histories and regional accounts identify the Webber Ranch as a possible station on the southern Underground Railroad. Silvia was widely remembered for opening her home to people who were hungry, destitute, or seeking refuge. The Webbers reportedly fed and sheltered freedom seekers and used their ferry to help fugitives from slavery cross the Rio Grande into Mexico. Their neighbors, Matilda and Nathaniel Jackson, another interracial family, were also known to assist people escaping enslavement (Hammack, 2024; Wikipedia, 2025).

The Webbers were part of a much broader history of resistance. Research on the Underground Railroad to Mexico demonstrates that Mexican residents and Mexican Americans participated in these freedom networks. People of Mexican descent guided escapees, shared information about routes and conditions across the border, offered food and hiding places, and sometimes helped freedom seekers evade slave catchers. Some endured intimidation and violence from slaveholders precisely because they assisted enslaved Black people seeking freedom (Baumgartner, 2020).

This history is important because it challenges the familiar geography of the Underground Railroad, which is usually imagined as moving north toward free states and Canada. It reminds us that another vital path led south through Texas and into Mexico. It also complicates histories that portray slavery and abolition exclusively through a Black-white framework. Mexican and Mexican American communities were not merely observers of enslaved people’s flight to freedom; some were active participants in making that freedom possible.

The story of Silvia Hector Webber therefore reveals a profound history of Black resistance, Mexican and Mexican American assistance, interracial family struggle, and cross-border solidarity. At the same time, it exposes the long reach of slavery and anti-Black racism: the buying and selling of children, the denial of education, the threat of kidnapping and re-enslavement, the dispossession of property, the displacement of free Black families, and the persecution of those who opposed slavery and the Confederacy.

This important history will be addressed this coming Saturday, July 25, 2026, with Webber family members and descendants present at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin. The symposium, “Visibilizing a Freedom Fighter, Silvia Hector Webber: A Legacy of Resistance & Black Freedom in North America,” will bring descendants, scholars, genealogists, and community historians together to honor Silvia’s legacy and deepen public understanding of Black freedom-seeking, Mexican American solidarity, and cross-border resistance.

The free symposium will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the ESB-MACC, 600 River Street, Austin, Texas. As I shared in an earlier blog post, the gathering is part of the Webber Family Preservation Project and will highlight both the Webber family’s history and the important work descendants are undertaking to recover and preserve their ancestral histories, cultures, and historic sites (Valenzuela, 2026).

Source note: This account draws principally on historian María Esther Hammack’s archival research on Silvia Hector Webber, including her discovery and transcription of the 1834 freedom papers that secured freedom for Silvia and her three young children. It also draws on Hammack’s authoritative biographical entry in the Handbook of Texas Online and the Wikipedia entry “Silvia and John Webber.” Broader historical context regarding the southbound Underground Railroad and Mexico’s importance as a destination for freedom seekers comes from Alice L. Baumgartner’s South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War.

References

Baumgartner, A. L. (2020). South to freedom: Runaway slaves to Mexico and the road to the Civil War. Basic Books.

Hammack, M. E. (2024, March 20). The life and legacy of Silvia Webber: A pioneer of freedom in Texas (1807–1892). Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/webber-sylvia-hector

Wikipedia. (2025, May 28). Silvia and John Webber, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Silvia_and_John_Webber&oldid=1292671328

Valenzuela, A. (2026, July 17). Invitation: “Visibilizing a freedom fighter, Silvia Hector Webber: A legacy of resistance & Black freedom in North America” at the ESB-MACC, Sat., July 25, 2026. Educational Equity, Politics & Policy in Texas. https://texasedequity.blogspot.com/2026/07/invitation-visibilizing-freedom-fighter.html

Populism is sweeping France whoever wins the elections June, 2024 by Francis Ghilès, CIDOB

Friends,

I just came across this interesting piece on politics by Francis Ghilès published by CIDOB on the upcoming June 30th election. For one, I just learned the term, "Euroscepticism," that captures the notion within Europe of opposition to the European Union (EU) and all that it entails politically, economically, socially, and culturally for EU member countries.  

Pulling together this article with the award-winning archival research of University of Georgia History Professor Dr. Jennifer L. Palmer, one can derive a sense of how these intertwined dimensions today threaten a “French way of life” that has its roots in French colonialism and plantation slavery.

Her book titled, "Intimate bonds: Family and slavery in the French Atlantic (2022)," examines how enslaved people in places like the French colonies of the Caribbean and South America simultaneously secured the French empire through its codified legal understandings of race and gender while also leading to slavery's ultimate demise as mediated by household and family intimacy in the context of the plantation system and economy. 

Expressed differently, Palmer documents how families of mixed status, enslaved and free, challenged what was, in the 18th century, a system of racial hierarchy thought to be immutable. Palmer's centering of gender together with household an family dynamics in the un-doing of slavery is phenomenal.

I see a lot of similarities to the U.S., especially the "phoney cultural wars of the far right" focused on "wokism in academia," and the emerging political influence of Gen Z that similar to the U.S. (Della Volpe, 2023), will likely determine the outcomes of both of our country's elections. Due to globalization, migration, and demographic diversity, Gen Z is the most racial/ethnic and gender diverse age-generational cohort in the history of the U.S. and many countries worldwide. 

Plus, they like this diversity and unlike any previous generation, see themselves as a cohort. I was born at the tail of the Baby Boom. Boomers just kind of lived and didn't really think of themselves as a cohort. As Twenge (2023) outlines in her research, the key factor here is technology and what it enables. I have blogged a fair amount on this previously. For example, read "GenZ on the Rise: The GOP Is Pushing to Steal Students’ Votes, Rolling Stone, 11.28.23."

Our Gen Z youth and younger Millennials, locally, nationally, and internationally indeed have the highest stakes in the outcomes of our elections as they are in need of governments that are responsive to the challenges they face and the planet they will inherit.

-Angela Valenzuela

References

Della Volpe, J. (2022). Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America, St. Martin's Press.

Palmer, J. L. (2022). Intimate bonds: Family and slavery in the French Atlantic. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Twenge, J. M. (2023). Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future. Simon and Schuster.

Populism is sweeping France whoever wins the elections
June, 2024 | Francis Ghilès, Associate Senior Research Fellow, CIDOB

French voters head to the ballot box on Sunday 30th June in the first round of a high-stakes parliamentary election. Three features of French politics, often overlooked, are crucial to understand the evolution of the vote in France: euroscepticism from French far right and far left; how populism is already part and parcel of everyday politics; and the power of hard right-wing media.

No sooner had the results of the European elections been announced on June 9, that the French president called a snap parliamentary election. His party Renaissance took a drubbing and the hard right Rassemblement National (RN) won its best ever result with 31.37% of the vote. Emmanuel Macron’s decision stunned millions of French people. Although Renaissance has not had a majority in parliament since 2022, a certain number of laws have been passed. France has been difficult to govern but not ungovernable but what exasperates many people is Mr. Macron’s alleged “narcissistic management”. 

Two weeks later, the president’s gamble appears to have backfired. Instead of rallying his supporters in favour of moderate liberal democracy, it has succeeded in boosting extremes of left and right. Mr Macron has often dismissed the hard right and the hard left La France Insoumise (LFI), whose thinking dominates the hastily assembled alliance of left-wing parties le Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP), as birds of a feather. The leader of LFI, Jean-Luc Mélenchon returns the compliment, dismissing Le Pen’s fast rising number two, the 28 year old Jordan Bardella as a “worse version of Emmanuel Macron”. The RN is credited with well over thirty per cent of the vote in the first round of the elections due on 30th June while NFP is expected to come in second place. Macron’s centrist forces are trail in third position. Voters are expected to turn out in record numbers for a general election which makes forecasting the result exceptionally difficult. 

Overlooked features of French politics

Two features of French politics are often overlooked by observers. The first is that the hard left and the hard right share a very sceptical, not to say hostile attitude towards the Brussels bureaucracy whose very DNA include the liberal economic policy which has been the hallmark of western industrialised countries since the 1980s. But whereas the RN has trimmed its economic sails in recent days, the NFP has promised to increase the basic wage and reimpose the wealth tax which the president cancelled in 2017. NFP refuses to accept that the world’s billionaires – not least the French ones, have increased their wealth by roughly 3 trillion Euros since the pandemic while the rest, whether poor or just managing have lost out. Many ordinary French people live in a state of permanent insecurity. The hard right is not, however, the one-trick pony it is often described as. Immigration is not its only obsession though it has stirred the pot of anti-Muslim, anti-north African for decades in its successful bid to gain support among left behind white males. Like the Left its world view pivots around the idea of nation and “French way of life” as the sacrosanct bedrock of everything. 

After first winning the presidency in 2017 by uniting the centre right and the centre left under his new party, Emmanuel Macron turned to more right-wing policies. This is where the second factor kicks in. His policies were more right-wing on social benefits, immigration, Islam and public order; he extolled patriotism and pledged to fight wokism in academia. He only remained a liberal on feminist and gender issues. The rise of Marine le Pen gives the impression that, as elsewhere in Europe, French society is drifting to the right. The reality is that populism is already part and parcel of everyday politics. In his article for the Financial Times “Will France fall to populism?”, Olivier Roy notes that all major French political parties bar the Socialists function along the populist conception of politics which includes “a charismatic leader appealing directly to the people while ruling his or her party through a camarilla of close friends or family members and proxies”.

How the president has stolen the clothes of the right and the extreme-right is forensically analysed by Jean Francois Bayart in his book “Malheur à la Ville dont le Prince est un Enfant. De Macron à Le Pen. 2017-2024”. After he was first elected, Mr. Macron followed a trend set by Nicolas Sarkozy in bypassing French institutions by appointing businessmen to diplomatic and academic positions and engaging private consultancies to perform tasks which were previously done by civil servants. He never disguises his contempt for “the deep state”, traditional political parties or elected mayors and local councillors. His decision to call the election was decided by a few advisors at the Élysée Palace which did not include the prime minister, Gabriel Attal. 

The broader world context

The ultimate fate of French political institutions and parties in what is called the radical right will not however be decided by any of this year’s elections, be it in France, the UK or elsewhere in Europe. In his blog The Constant Reporter, Alain Catzeflis argues that the fate of Europe will be decided “by the generation that has turned old enough to vote: Generation Z.” Western democracies face the plague of falling investment, insufficient productivity and social tensions. Can they be “reengineered to generate growth, jobs and functioning public services? Can enough housing be built to allow Generation Z to become home owners and feel they have a stake in the future?”. The phoney cultural wars of the far right are the consequence of the virtual disappearance of parties which have dominated the industrialised West – France in particular since WWII. The market-led economic model which intended levelling up but has merely entrenched a two-tier wealth system has fostered deep disillusion. Mr. Macron has brought down unemployment to its lowest levels in decades and made France the most attractive country in Europe for Foreign Direct Investment. But the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have not allowed him to put public finances in order. 

Another factor is at play in a country which boasts the largest Jewish and the largest Muslim population of any country in Europe. The charge of antisemitism, a traditional rallying cry against the extreme right is now often used against the extreme left. A prominent figure of the fight against antisemitism, Serge Klarsfeld has called for voters to endorse the FN against LFI but that makes many Jewish electors, mindful of the antisemitic antecedents of the party Marine Le Pen’s father, Jean Marie created half a century ago, very uncomfortable. Jean-Luc Mélenchon is open to criticism because he gives the impression of supporting the Palestinians to gain votes among Muslim voters, which puts the latter in a very awkward position. He is also the heir of a tradition of antisemitism on the Left which stretches back two centuries and associates Jews with triumphant capitalism. 

The trajectory France is following is marked by the steady erosion of collective solidarity and social conquests that were put in place after 1945, the questioning of public freedoms and the trivialisation of racist discourse. The political class bears much of the responsibility for this sorry state of affairs but the growing role of the hard right-wing media is a third, often overlooked factor in the wave of populism sweeping France. Fox News and Rupert Murdoch now have their French counterpart, the recently built media empire of the billionaire Vincent Bolloré, whose family motto is “kneel before God, stand before men”. Europe 1 and CNews sounded very Trumpian when, after the Hamas attack on Israel, they launched a barrage of attacks against politicians and artists who dared show sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian. The growing number of media belonging to Mr. Bolloré equate criticism of Zionism and Israel with antisemitism. Islam in their view is inherently intolerant and the DNA of anyone who practises it must incline him or her to terrorism. The RN wants to privatise the French state media. Vincent Bolloré fully agrees. Such a policy would further undermine democracy in France.

Keywords: France, elections, Macron, Le Pen, Mélenchon, Rassemblement National, Renaissance, Nouveau Front Populaire, La France Insoumise, populism, antisemitism, Bolloré

All the publications express the opinions of their individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CIDOB or its donors.

A Personal Reflection on The 1619 Project and a Word of Thanks to my Husband, Dr. Emilio Zamora

Friends:

I’m reading The 1619 Project: A New American Origin Story written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Nicole Hannah-Jones, that I highly recommend. My husband, Dr. Emilio Zamora, a recent past president of the Texas State Historical Association, and I had an amazing conversation this morning about this book and the history of slavery and the Civil War.

Emilio says that it’s a conventional history on the topic, despite what literally outlawing it, as Texas has done, to suggest otherwise. The difference is the context in which it appears. “There are critical texts going back for decades,” he said, rattling off a few. My main statement in response is that it’s also so very well written. “It’s honest,” he responded.

 
He went on to discuss the different interpretations of the reasons for the Civil War and the ideological camps into which scholars themselves fall in his characteristic manner of great detail. You're such a treasure, Emilio.

This morning's conversation reminded me of just how terrible and backward it is for states like Texas and Florida to not just ban, but also distort and misrepresent texts like these. I asked him if he thought that the negative press might have a boomerang effect and draw readers to it.

He hesitated, saying that he wasn't sure. "Most people don't read history," he said. This was not what I wanted to hear. I like to think that the bad press is drawing a new generation of readers to texts like these. After all, it's the "forbidden fruit." I trust that it will sometime soon join the literary canon as a must-read not unlike Howard Zinn's, A People's History of the United States.

This morning reminded me of why I married a historian. What an honor and privilege to read this and so many other texts that we can share and chew on at any time he or I wish.

As mentioned in my earlier post, Emilio has a forthcoming anthology that he is co-editing with the inimitable historian, Dr. Andrés Tijerina. It's titled, The History of Mexican Americans in Texas and will be available this year to 10th graders in Texas public schools. My heart is full.

It’s awesome and profound to think that we are both the fulfillment of each other’s dreams for this life we’ve lived.

Thank you, Emilio. Please forgive me for the many times that I have taken you for granted. I can't imagine my life without you. You, our children, son-in-law, grandchildren, and extended family make my life whole. It's all so humbling. Gracias!

Love you! Por vida! 💗

-Angela Valenzuela

References

Hannah-Jones, N. (2021). The 1619 Project: A New American Origin Story. Random House.

Tijerina, A. & Zamora, E. (in press). The History of Mexican Americans in Texas: A History of Tradition and Struggle. Kendall Hunt Publishers.

Zinn, H. (1980). A People's History of the United States. Harper & Row.

Photo credit: Juanita Tijerina Dec. 19, 2023, San Antonio, Texas

"The Fire This Time: The Insurrection of American Public Education Is Being Fueled by Racism," by Street, M. & Garcia-Medina, W.

In total agreement that, as stated below, that "Now more than ever, we need for an accurate and comprehensive understanding of slavery." Kim Yancey's statement calling what's happening in curriculum an "insurrection" against public, inclusive education. It echoes Hakeem Jefferson and Victor Ray's perspective as posted earlier to this blog: "White Backlash Is A Type Of Racial Reckoning, Too."

Insurrection. Backlash. White racial reckoning. What's this all about?

I'm reading Heather McGee's book, The Sum of Us, right now. She points to the work of Kinder & Sanders (1996)  who offer an in-depth look at white racial resentment in the context of political opinion surveys. McGee's larger and quite compelling argument is that anti-black racism is not only harmful to blacks, but also to the U.S., as a whole.

-Angela Valenzuela

References

Kinder, D. R., & Sanders, L. M. (1996). Divided by color: Racial politics and democratic ideals. University of Chicago Press.

McGhee, H. (2021). The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. One World Press. 

The Fire This Time: The Insurrection of American Public Education Is Being Fueled by Racism

by Sister Syllabus | Aug. 7, 2023 | Medium.com

By Mia Street, MEd and Dr. William Garcia-Medina

Insurrection: rebellion, revolt, uprising, mutiny, revolution, insurgence, rising, rioting, riot, sedition, civil disobedience, civil disorder, unrest, anarchy…

Pedagogy of the Oppressor…

In July of 2022, a group of nine Texas educators submitted an idea to the State Board of Education that would be the beginning of dismantling truth-telling in public education. The idea? Public schools in Texas would now begin to learn to describe slavery as “involuntary relocation” under new social studies standards proposed to the state’s education board. A few phone calls and social media posts later condemning this false interpretation of enslavement resulted in going viral. The responses made me feel like perhaps Texas would not fall to the erosion of truth-telling in schools. I was wrong. Since then, legislators across the country have created policies that tear down decades of equity gains in education work. Texas NAACP Education Chair, Councilwoman Kimberley Yancy quite accurately called this an Insurrection of Public Education and it is.

In recent years, a disturbing trend has been emerging within American public education — a surge of racist ideologies and practices that undermine the goal of creating inclusive and equitable learning environments. From anti CRT bills to anti DEI legislation- this insurrection has rolled back years of progress. The insurrection of public education is fueled by racism within schools and has far-reaching consequences that perpetuate systemic racism and hinder the progress towards a truly just society. Several incidents and policy decisions across the country serve as evidence of this vitriol permeating our education system.

One of the most egregious examples can be found in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis recently ignited a firestorm of controversy by attacking the teaching of slavery in schools. As reported by Politico, even Black Republicans were left livid and disgusted by DeSantis’ comments, which attempt to downplay the significance and effects of slavery in American history. This attempt to whitewash the curriculum not only erases the suffering and contributions of Black Americans but also perpetuates a distorted narrative that minimizes the impact of white supremacy and systemic racism.

The Guardian, in a scathing critique, highlights the harmful consequences of DeSantis’ stance on curriculum about enslavement in America. By refusing to acknowledge the full extent of the horrors inflicted upon enslaved individuals, Florida risks perpetuating a cycle of ignorance and denial. This insurrection not only undermines the education of students but also hampers efforts to foster empathy and understanding among future generations.

Echoing those concerns, The New York Times argues that DeSantis’ actions are part of a broader pattern of continuing to perpetuate lies to hide the aspects of American history that show how disgusting, degrading and dehumanizing slavery really was. Now more than ever, we need for an accurate and comprehensive understanding of slavery, as it is an essential pillar in comprehending the foundations of racial inequity in the United States. By denying this history, DeSantis and others contribute to a poisonous atmosphere that perpetuates racism via a manufactured erosion of democratic principles attributed to free-thinking institutions such as schools. To borrow a quote from David Berliner and Bruce J Biddle’s book titled The Manufactured Crisis (1996), “the American tragedy of racism poses serious problems for our public schools, problems that are less evident in other Western countries that have lower levels of prejudice (pp.230).” Although this quote was written during the 90’s, it remains true to this day. The January 6th insurrection of the White House is integrally connected to the nefarious legislation seeking to do away with truth-telling in public education and more generally, America.

Currently, we are facing extreme polarization fueled by direct acknowledgement and support for hatred against Black and Brown communities. DeSantis’ display of racism, for instance, takes shape via both direct racism and another subtle form of vitriol commonly known as color-blind racism.

Beyond the books…

The January 6th insurrection demonstrates how racism has shifted back into its direct racism while claiming to be saving the United States from wokeism and extreme leftism. While many politicians holding political power are behaving as ventriloquists, controlling uninformed folks across the country for political gain, far-right political groups are working hard to shift power to shape, distort and censor the curriculum that is taught to our students. The impact of this insurrection against inclusive education extends beyond Florida. Across the country, legislation is being introduced that seeks to limit diversity and equity efforts in schools. The Associated Press reports on the dangerous ramifications of such legislation, which undermines the progress made in creating safe and inclusive spaces for students who are marginalized. These policies disregard the needs of students from disenfranchised communities and also perpetuate systems of oppression and discrimination for the purpose of continued racial domination. Sociologists Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer refer to racial domination being based on: 1) Institutional Racism: Systemic White privilege in institutions such as schools, corporations, universities, etc, and 2) Interpersonal Racism: Racism in everyday interactions. The impact of recent insurrections against inclusive education and the dismantling of affirmative action are prime examples of racial domination.

By using “wokeism” as an excuse to pass racist legislations against the teaching of inclusive history and ignoring the incitement of racial domination, it adheres to fallacies that garner support by many people in the country, thus increasing divisions and social mayhem. Beyond the books, the insurrection of public education is having detrimental effects on discipline practices and exacerbating racial disparities within the system. Dallas CORE Chief Executive Officer and Community Organizer, Jazmyn Ferguson stated, “when attempting to understand discipline, it is clear that those with power have a stake in ensuring that society functions as it does because it preserves their power and ability to survive and thrive.”

In a joint effort between the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), Lubbock NAACP and families of Lubbock, Texas, demand for an end to school-based racial discrimination. One of the key concerns raised by these organizations and families is the disproportionate discipline practices being employed in schools. Historically, African American and LatinX students are subjected to harsher disciplinary actions compared to their white counterparts. After the district’s inaction and flat out lying and denial of receiving complaints, students and families of the Lubbock-Cooper Independent School District and Slaton ISD, along with the Lubbock NAACP and the IDRA filed civil right complaints against the school districts. The violation claims have been submitted to the US Department of Education.

The case of the Mamaroneck School District in New York, as reported by Gothamist, serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of inaction. Black students and other students of color were regularly the targets of racial epithets and sexually offensive harassment. According to OAG Leticia James:

The OAG’s investigation concluded that Mamaroneck UFSD’s failure to address student bullying and harassment constituted a violation of Title VI and Title IX. Black students and other students of color were regularly the targets of racial epithets and sexually offensive harassment. The OAG found that Mamaroneck UFSD, despite promptly investigating these incidents, failed to engage in necessary responses to limit this behavior in the future.

The district faced criticism for its failure to address racial bullying effectively, prompting calls for reform. Instances like these highlight the urgent need for schools and districts to prioritize the development of anti-racist policies and procedures that ensure the safety and well-being of all students. White denial from school administrators and policy makers reveal a return to Jim Crow ideologies in terms of surveilling and restricting disenfranchised communities via racial domination.

Similar to Mamaroneck, Carrollton Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFBISD), a suburb of Dallas, Texas has recently come under scrutiny, again, due to allegations of racial bias and discrimination. In a disturbing incident that went viral the spring of 2021, a middle school quiz administered in CFBISD contained derogatory anti-Asian stereotypes. Then in 2022, OCR complaints were filed because district leadership blatantly segregated their district administrators. Just last month, Wendy Eldredge, their new superintendent, was quoted saying derogatory statements about African American and LatinX students and their parents. Even after being brought to light, school leadership and the school board allowed for these clear acts of discrimination to go unchecked. The Texas State Historical Association reveals that the district was part of a segregated system until the late 1960s. This historical background (and most recent incidents) raise questions about how deeply ingrained and prevalent systemic racism is within the district’s policies and practices. Instances like these highlight the urgent need for schools and districts to prioritize the development of anti-racist policies and procedures that ensure the safety and well-being of all students.

The insurrection of American public education fueled by racism is not only attacking inclusive pedagogy, continuing unjust discipline practices but in some states, Black and Brown communities are fighting against the erosion of democracy of public education. This week, Texas Education Agency (TEA) imposed a state takeover of Houston ISD by dismantling local control, replacing the superintendent and elected school board members. Thus, diminishing the influence of parents, students and local educators who intimately understand the needs of their community. This top-down approach undermines the very essence of democracy and denies students, especially those from historically marginalized backgrounds, the chance to shape their own educational experiences. It perpetuates a cycle of inequity that hinders the progress of Black and Brown children, who already face systemic barriers within education. In response to the takeover, activist Lauren Ashley, in a now viral video, passionately expressed the concerns of her community with the newly appointed superintendent Mike Miles. Our “good sis” Lauren Ashley’s concerns included HISD falling into the same charter school pitfall that New Orleans went into after Katrina and the loss of the community being able to choose their school board. Also, another concern is that the takeover is a strategy executed by Texas republicans as a way to punish a very democratic leaning city and its Black and Brown majority. Additionally, Superintendent Mike Miles is also under fire for his recent decision to convert some school libraries into “team centers” where students placed in these centers for disciplinary actions will watch their class on Zoom and complete individual assignments. State takeovers, such as the one imposed on HISD, often lack evidence of their effectiveness in improving student outcomes.

Collective action…

At such challenging times, it is crucial for parents and supporters like Lauren Ashley to speak out against the actions of TEA and individuals like Mike Miles. By raising our collective voices and advocating for equitable policies and practices, we can push back against the erosion of democracy and demand a fair and just education system for all students. It is imperative for policymakers, educators and communities to confront the insurrection of education head-on by implementing anti-racist curriculum, supporting inclusive policies and creating safe spaces for all students, educators and parents. Only through collective action can we dismantle the structures that perpetuate racism within our schools and pave the way for a truly equitable education system.

We cannot fail to heed the warnings of the January 6th insurrection. If we do not take this time to atone as a country and work towards racial equity the chickens will come home to roost. As they always do.

About the Authors:

Mia Street, MEd

An award winning educator, her journey in education led her to teaching and eventually becoming a district administrator leading transformational work. Her work inside and outside of the classroom has helped to create equitable educational spaces. She currently consults with different organizations and specializes in leveraging partnerships with educational agencies and industry professionals to promote, create and increase equity in education. She currently holds the following roles: Kidada Education Design, Founder, BH365 Foundation, Executive Director, Dallas CORE Chief Growth Officer, NAACP Texas State Education Committee Member and co-author of the upcoming book entitled Sister Syllabus. Website KidadaEd.com

Dr. William Garcia-Medina

Dr. García-Medina is currently a Charles Phelps Taft Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Cincinnati. His research focuses on Black diasporic public humanities, AfroLatinx education, cultural studies, and museum studies. García-Medina has provided educational consulting,training, and workshops for numerous organizations, universities, school districts, and museums. He has taught courses in Latino Studies, American Studies, and Black Studies and has published in these fields in academic journals, blogs, and podcasts. García-Medina has contributed to Latino Rebels since 2015 and has been a guest on national broadcast radio such as Latino USA and NPR. He tweets from @afrolatinoed

The man behind Florida’s new Black history standards, WAPO Aug. 11, 2023

The first problem I see here is that there is "this man," William Barclay Allen, who is exerting an undue influence on Black history standards in Florida, impacting the education that youth receive throughout the state. 

I'm with the critics. After all, the inferences drawn from curriculum standards are caught up with the current political context that includes DeSantis' attack on AP African American Studies, threats to academic freedom, and tenure. Language matters. How offensive for there to be standards that represent slavery as providing "beneficial skills to the enslaved."

This is incredibly patronizing, especially when considering that enslaved West Africans weren't tabula rasa, but rather had their own cuisine, cultivation practices, agricultural knowledge systems, and other trades that positively impacted our nation's development (Sousa & Raizada, 2020; also read: African Impact on Colonial Agriculture). I ponder just how beneficial it would be to know more in our school curricula about the origins of specific crops' domestication and how these contributed to enslaved people's nutritional well-being, resilience, and survival—as well as our own in this country.

There is evidence of a “working group” developing the standards in Florida, but Floridians really need Black history scholars, well-versed on U.S. history, Black history, in particular, with the kind of expertise to contribute constructively on the specific standards the state is laying out.

There needs to be greater trust in the process instead of what is a clear pushing of a narrow, conservative view that has made this a hurtful, contentious battle.

-Angela Valenzuela

Reference

African Impact on Colonial Agriculture. Retrieved: https://www.ouramericanrevolution.org/index.cfm/page/view/m0135

Sousa, E. C., & Raizada, M. N. (2020). Contributions of African crops to American culture and beyond: The slave trade and other journeys of resilient peoples and crops. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 4, 586340. Retrieved: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2020.586340/full 

The man behind Florida’s new Black history standards

By Lori Rozsa | Washington Post | Updated August 13, 2023 at 6:44 p.m. EDT|Published August 11, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Students head back to class Thursday in Tarpon Springs, Fla., as teachers statewide grapple with new, divisive curriculum standards in subjects like Black history. (Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/AP)

Florida teachers returning to the classroom this week face what many say are confusing new directives from state education officials over the instruction students should receive in certain classes. Among the most contentious: standards championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for teaching Black history, which must include discussion of how slavery could have provided beneficial skills to the enslaved and how mob violence against Black people included “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”

At a virtual training seminar by the Florida Department of Education — a session for teachers sponsored by the agency’s African American History Task Force — none of the group’s long-standing members spoke. All have objected to the changes and say they were never consulted. One resigned in protest, calling himself “disgusted” with the new curriculum.

In their place at the seminar were recent appointees from DeSantis’s education commissioner, Manny Diaz, and members of a separate “working group” that created the standards. The featured speaker was William Barclay Allen, a conservative scholar who has become the public face of the state’s efforts to rewrite how Black history is taught.

Here are key details about Allen and the controversy.

What is Allen’s professional background?

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The 79-year-old retired professor of government and political science has a résumé notable for appointments to high-profile positions by conservative Republicans. In 1984, Ronald Reagan named Allen to the National Council of the Humanities, followed three years later by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In appointing him to the commission, Reagan said Allen would prevent the commission from becoming “an arm of the advocacy groups in the civil rights movement.”

In 1998, Virginia officials chose him as the executive director of the State Council on Higher Education.

A Florida native who helped integrate his Fernandina Beach high school in the 1960s, he has taught at public and private colleges in D.C., California, Colorado and Michigan and authored or co-authored more than half a dozen books.

William Allen discusses the narratives behind the stories at historic presidential homes like Mount Vernon and Monticello during a 2022 Heritage Foundation event. (Photo by C-SPAN)

Why has Allen drawn public attention in the past?

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Allen has repeatedly spoken out against affirmative action, and during his leadership of the Virginia higher education council, he also questioned the role of historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs. During his chairmanship of the federal civil rights body, he was castigated by fellow commissioners for the title of a 1989 speech, “Blacks? Animals? Homosexuals? What is a Minority?”

That same year, Allen was caught up in a kidnapping case involving a high school student on tribal lands in Arizona. The incident became the subject of a U.S. Senate investigation. Allen refused calls to resign and suggested instead that the entire commission resign.

In 1986, he ran for the U.S. Senate in California. (His campaign chairman was attorney John Eastman, who 34 years later would try to help Donald Trump overturn the outcome of the presidential election.) Allen, one of 13 candidates in the Republican primary, placed 10th and received less than 1 percent of the total votes cast.

How has Allen characterized the new Black history standards?

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Allen declined an interview request by The Washington Post but explained in an email exchange that the 13-member working group “operated with a collaborative, consensual process, and the result is a product with no single author.” He noted that there was “no dissent.”

His comments to others have been more elaborative. He posted a 12-minute video on YouTube and discussed his views during appearances on South Florida news station WPLG and the “Megyn Kelly Show” online. He told Kelly that his great-grandfather was enslaved but “had the pluck to seek out opportunity” and “made the commitment to build his family’s life in this country.”

He also criticized Vice President Harris — who blasted the new standards during visits to Florida this summer — as “following a script in the name of an ideological agenda.”

During Monday’s virtual training, he told teachers that they should teach “the whole picture.” As an example, he mentioned the nine students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock in 1957. Though they were first blocked from entering the school by members of the Arkansas National Guard, after President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the unit, some of those same soldiers were “protecting and escorting those children into school,” he recounted.

“If we can convey no other message to our teachers, that’s the message we must convey: that the story is never just one way,” Allen said.

Yet the full history of the Little Rock Nine, as they came to be known, also includes the months of harassment and threats those students endured and their fear of the National Guard forces. Florida educators say it’s unclear how much they can teach about such events, given the Stop Woke law that DeSantis signed last year; the statute prohibits classroom discussion about race that might make students feel uncomfortable.

What’s next for Florida’s curriculum?

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The state Education Department is embroiled in multiple controversies, including the decision — also backed by DeSantis — to reject a new Advanced Placement African American studies course. This week, officials first blocked, then announced they would allow, the AP Psychology course; at issue was the material it uses on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The department says the Black history standards will be “implemented” over the coming months, but it’s unclear what that means. The commissioner was scheduled to discuss the curriculum changes on Thursday at a town hall in Miami Gardens, a majority-Black city, but canceled.

About 200 people attended the gathering at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, with parents and community members expressing concern and anger over the revisions and questioning how the changes were made.

Steve Gallon III, a member of the Miami-Dade School Board, said the working group that Diaz put together was problematic because of the “shared ideology” and “shared agenda” of Allen and the other members.

“The foundation of their thinking needs to be called into question, to marginalize slavery, to misinform the facts about our history,” Gallon said.

He urged the audience to attend school board meetings and vote in every election to change the laws that led to the new curriculum. And parents, he added, need to ensure their children understand that slavery represented “the most horrific, brutal, divisive, destructive, evil experiences that this world has ever known.”

The teaching begins at home, Gallon said. “We can ill afford to totally rely on the school system to educate our children.”

CORRECTION

A previous version of this article incorrectly said that William Barclay Allen's great-great-grandfather was enslaved. It was his great-grandfather. This version has been corrected.