Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke said he is against critical race theory being taught in schools, an apparent reversal from his previous stance on the subject.
The Democrat said CRT, which holds that systemic racism exists in society and its institutions, “should not be taught” in Texas schools, upending his previously stated belief that students should know the “full story of Texas.”
“I think you and I are probably both on the same page as well. We don’t see CRT being taught in our schools right now,” O’Rourke told a local who asked about the theory at a town hall Friday night in Victoria, Texas. “It is a course that is taught in law school.”
“Do you think it should be taught?” the local asked.
“No, I don’t think it should be taught in our schools,” the former congressman said.
NEW TODAY: Beto O’Rourke Reverses Position on CRT
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This is seemingly a change from O’Rourke’s previous comments on the matter, where he danced around the topic.
“We should know the full story of Texas and the full story of the United States of America,” the candidate said in early February. “Not only our founding ideals and principles, but the way that those ideals and principles were often violated by the people who wrote them or the fact that so much of the wealth and opportunity in this state was actually created by people who had no choice in the deal whatsoever. … If we don’t, then we’re trafficking in myths and things that just are not true.”
Meanwhile, O’Rourke’s opponent, incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, signed a ban on CRT into law in June of last year.
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A handful of states have banned the teaching of CRT, while others, such as New Jersey, have promoted the use of the concept in classrooms.
O’Rourke’s campaign team did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
