Thread by @TexasTribune

1/ School officials at Texas universities pledged to address racial injustices on campuses after a summer of racial reckoning.

But eight months later, many students of color say most of their demands have been ignored. bit.ly/3a1rKOM

2/ Among other demands, students wanted:
• Rice University to remove a statue of its founder, a former slave owner
• UT to stop playing it’s alma mater song, which has ties to minstrel shows
• Texas A&M to remove the statue of a Confederate general and state governor

3/ None of those changes have happened.

Black students said the buildings and statues that remain serve as a reminder that they attend schools that weren’t intended to serve them. bit.ly/3a1rKOM

4/ While campuses implemented diversity training and increased scholarships for students of color, university leaders admit there is much work to be done. bit.ly/3a1rKOM

5/ School officials argue broad, cultural change takes time.

A spokesperson at the University of Houston, where students demanded UH stop contracting with the city’s police, said “Systemic racism [has] been developing for centuries. There are no magic wands to wave.”

6/ Texas universities have largely dodged demands to remove monuments named for people with racist histories. bit.ly/3a1rKOM

7/ In some cases, universities are erecting new statues honoring people of color. But some students say that doesn’t address the issue at hand. bit.ly/3a1rKOM

8/ Students also wanted school leaders to address the impact of policing at their own universities.

Those calls got louder as activists across the country called for cities to defund police departments and reallocate money to other services. bit.ly/3a1rKOM

9/ When Baylor University didn’t allow a Black fraternity to show a video about police brutality, a student said they can’t “pick and choose” when and how they confront racism. bit.ly/3a1rKOM