Rep. Christina Morales, a Houston Democrat, reintroduced the bill that required all Texas districts to offer Mexican-American and African American studies as social study options,  as well as the  disciplines  of  world history and geography are. The project also allows these courses to count as credit at graduation.

Republican Rep. Charles Cunningham, who took office this year, is the co-author of the bill.  He served on the school board and was a city councilman in Humble, Texas.

“Mexican American and African American studies already are elective courses in Texas, but they are not offered in all of its 1,250 school districts. Currently, 63 districts teach Mexican American studies, and 58 teach African American studies”, according to NBC News.

The Texas House voted for an identical bill in the 2021 regular legislative session, and while it won the approval of a Senate committee, it didn't get a vote on the Senate floor.

“And the reintroduced legislation is not guaranteed an easy path this session. Texas lawmakers have reconvened amid campaigns in GOP-controlled states, including Texas, to contain or limit teaching on race, and to end programs aimed at diversity and inclusion”, according to NBC.

The Republican Party’s 2024 presidential candidates have used speeches attacking ethnic studies and  diversity initiatives  to awaken their party's right-wing base.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott’s office did not respond to questions about whether he would support bipartisan legislation or what form would be needed to get his support.

The large majority of the state’s Latinos are of Mexican descent, according to the Pew Research Center. The Census Bureau estimated that the number of Hispanics in Texas has surpassed non-Hispanic whites in the state. Texas is the state with the nation’s highest Black population — almost 4 million, or about 14% of Texas’ total population.

“Rep. Trey Martinez Fisher, who heads the Texas Democratic Caucus, said threats to college campuses regarding diversity and inclusion come with every news cycle, and ‘everyone seems to be walking on eggshells.’ Despite ‘the odds and the headwinds’, the legislation is not meant to pit Republicans against Democrats or people of color against one another he said”, according to NBC.

“Rep. Ron Reynolds, chairman of the Texas Black Caucus, said passage of the bill could begin to heal the fractures in the state caused by bickering over diversity, equity and inclusion programs and critical race theory, a generally college-level concept whose main idea is that racism is systemic, or embedded, in laws, institutions and policies”.

“Rep. Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat who supports the bill, said that Asian Americans had been targeted by laws that would deprive them of their civil rights, which angers the community. Bill SB147, filed for this session, would make it illegal for Chinese citizens to buy property in Texas, including homes”.