Mexican-American history may become a course in Texas public schools

History is an important part of our education.  Our past is just as important as our present.

Now there's a strong possibility that students who go to public school in Texas may soon be able to take a course in Mexican-American history.

Tony Diaz fights for Mexican-American History
Photo courtesy: TonyDiaz.net

The Texas Observer reports that Houston author and activist, Tony Diaz has been persistent on this issue, and brought it to the attention of the Texas School Board of Education. 

It was new board member, Ruben Cortez who put Mexican-American history on the state's list of social studies courses to develop. Cortez told the Texas Observer he was surprised no one on the board objected.

Susan Gonzalez is a journalism major at University of Texas- Pan American. She brought the story to our attention.  Here's what she posted on our Wise Latinas Linked page on Facebook:

"I used to be an art history major and UTPA is one of the very few colleges that offer courses in Mexican-American or Latino art. So I was quite pleased to read this. Actually, I started as an art history major at Notre Dame and one of the professors there said he was disappointed that schools further away from Mexican border didn't offer those types of courses. It would be nice if this became a trend beyond Texas."

Susan Gonzalez

Kudos to the Texas Board of Education for embracing the idea. Let's hope it becomes a reality.

University of Texas history professor Emilio Zamora told the Observer

"This is the biggest advance in Mexican-American studies education in a decade."

Source: The Texas Observer
State Board of Education Plans Mexican-American History Course




Rebecca Aguilar is the founder of Wise Latinas Linked. She was awarded LATISM's Social Network Leader award in 2011 and 2013. She's a journalist, television commentator, blogger, social media manager and public speaker.