School closures are often justified with a string of hyphenated descriptors — like “under-utilized” or “under-enrolled” — each of which speaks to an immediate need for administrative action. But no descriptor can quell the frustration of those expected to bear the brunt of a closed school, especially when it is inextricably tied to a legacy of racism.
Pundits have long suggested the Latinx vote in Texas was a powder keg in Texas politics; strike the right political spark and it ignites an explosion. Yet, to date, the so-called sleeping giant has only slowly risen from its slumber.
Here's why studying population data is so important. It helps us know not only who is moving here, but why they’re doing it. Armed with that information, we can understand what makes Texas so attractive to these innovative, world-class minds.
There is no time like the present to patch the holes in our guardianship safety net and keep Texas as a national leader in guardianship reform.
Americans are joining alliances, non-profit organizations, churches, mosques, synagogues and other organizations that are proactively engaging each other across religious boundaries. Interfaith solidarity helps bring to life what we have in common and what we can learn from our differences.
Many people fail to understand that some Asian Americans also face strong obstacles to opportunity as well as high rates of poverty. Asian American families’ struggles hardly fit the “model minority” stereotype of a high-achieving, affluent immigrant community.
Acknowledging that certain groups have privilege can be uncomfortable for those who wish to believe we live in a meritocracy. The reality is that everybody has a combination of unearned advantage and unearned disadvantage in life. Acknowledging privilege forces me to wrestle with the question: What do I have that I didn’t earn?
Food assistance programs, whether funded by government or through a nonprofit’s food pantry, work together. An individual using both types of resources can access food more easily than if one pathway is cut off. The state’s new immigrant law does just that — indirectly cutting off resources to a vulnerable, under-served population.
Silent disregard for teen dads trickles down to a lack of programming and parental support for them. Traditionally relegated only to the role of financial child support, teen fathers actually play an active role in caring for their child, despite assumptions to the contrary.
I don't want to elevate my Dad in death to something more than he was in life. His good will and tolerance certainly had limits. But he did something that wasn't easy. He left the familiar confines of his hometown and refused to embrace historical racial prejudice. His decision came at a cost. He returned home as an outsider, someone whose attitudes towards race were not "traditional."
I had always wanted to live in Austin, but the Austin I wanted to live in then is now slip-sliding away.
As the Evenwel v. Abbott redistricting case goes before the Supreme Court this week, there may be temptation to see it as yet another in the long chain of struggles between Anglos and Hispanics over power in Texas. But if maps have to be redrawn, the impact of Evenwel could be far more dramatic.
As a majority-minority state, Texas gives us a unique picture of what our country faces in the future. How Texans overcome lingering prejudice and de facto segregation in the face of this shifting sense of diversity will be the model for the rest of the country.
As Austin and San Antonio begin to look more like one large metroplex, we need to seriously discuss the creation of a regional airport — a DFW for Central Texas.
There is a creeping national narrative that seeks to re-cast #BlackLivesMatter as a symbol of ill will. And Texas is ground zero for the debate.
On his trip to Texas this week, Ted Cruz will avoid Texas’ biggest cities — and by and large, its fast-growing Latino population.
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, survey findings have called into question what we thought we knew about Houston's responses to the storm victims.
It's no secret that veterans make up a disproportionate share of the country's homeless population. What often goes unspoken is the fact that these veterans are increasingly young, black and female.
The endless speculation over what a majority-Hispanic population will mean for Texas politics has largely ignored the fact that several decades from now, “Hispanic” may not mean what it does today.
Some say Austin — the only fast-growing large city in the country that's losing African-American residents — has a black problem. As I myself consider leaving, I realize that it's more complicated than that. Here's the truth: Elitism is Austin's new normal.
