Don Huffines, a challenger to Governor Greg Abbott in the Republican primaries, claims the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is training employees on Critical Race Theory.
Critical Race Theory refers to an academic theory analyzing how specific laws, policies, and institutions in America allegedly contribute to systemic racism in America.
According to Emily Donaldson and Valeria Olivares of Dallas Morning News, Huffines claimed to have been in touch with a DFPS whistleblower who shared employee training manuals that “clearly contain Critical Race Theory.”
DFPS oversees Child Protective Services (CPS), investigates child abuse cases, and runs community-based programs to reduce the incidences of abuse and neglect.
Huffines is centered on positioning himself to the right of Abbott in the gubernatorial primaries. On education, Huffines has demanded Abbott to stop using taxpayers’ funds to promote “Marxist ideology.”
Huffines’s accusations on November 4 are part of a broader attack Huffines has launched against public sector employees — notably in the public schooling sectors — for teaching material perceived to be politicized.
In Huffines’s view, CRT is a “disgusting” ideology with the intent of “pitting Texans against each other and dividing our state.”
He has previously urged Abbott to invoke a special session to “weed out this poison” from DFPS and other public institutions throughout Texas.
Right-wing political figures have criticized this theory for its perceived divisiveness and misleading analysis of socio-economic affairs.
Huffines alluded to two pieces of DFPS training. One of those manuals was published in September 2020 and was titled “Knowing Who You Are”, which features sections on ethnic and racial identity in addition to institutional racism.
A PowerPoint in November 2020 broaches similar subjects.
Huffines has been a firm critic of the child welfare agency. At the end of August, the former Texas State Senator claimed that the agency was pushing “transgender sexual policies to Texas youth” through a section on its website about gender identity and sexual orientation.
According to a report by The Texas Tribune, DFPS officials ended up removing the page.
The attacks against CRT and subject material that appears pro-LGBTQ in slant have not been confined to Texas. Virginia Republican Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin campaigned vigorously against identity politics in education in his successful campaign against Democratic incumbent Terry McAuliffe.
Other right-wing organizations like the 1776 Project PAC have made it a point to elect school board members across the nation who reject the use of CRT in public education settings.
