Muslim students, parents, faith leaders, educators and civil rights advocates gathered outside the Barbara Jordan Building Monday to call on the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) to remove biased and hostile language targeting Islam and Prophet Muhammad from proposed social studies standards before the Board’s final vote on Friday.
VIDEO: CAIR Action, CAIR Texas Call on Texas SBOE to Reject Biased Social Studies Standards
That call continued inside the Board meeting, where Muslim and non-Muslim Texans showed up in force to testify against the amendments. Parents, students, educators, faith leaders and community advocates delivered testimony urging the SBOE to reject language they described as hateful, biased and harmful to Texas students. The broad showing of opposition underscored that concerns about the standards extend beyond the Muslim community and raise fundamental questions about religious freedom, academic integrity and how Texas treats students of all faiths.
The press conference, organized by CAIR Action and CAIR Texas, brought together Muslim families and interfaith and community partners who warned that the proposed standards do more than present an inaccurate and one-sided account of Islamic history — they risk shaping how Muslim students are viewed and treated by their classmates.
For Abdelrahman Azami, a Muslim high school student in Austin, that concern is not hypothetical.
“I have been told multiple times that, ‘Oh, you’re a bomber. How many bombs did you drop today?’ Or that I celebrate 9/11 — when I was born 10 years after it happened,” Azami said. “We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for our rights… to be treated equally as Christians, Jews, Hindus, or any other religion.”
Speakers specifically called on the Board to remove language added to the World History standards that portrays Prophet Muhammad and the beginnings of Islam disproportionately through warfare, slavery and violence.
Parents emphasized that Muslim families are not asking Texas schools to avoid difficult history. They are asking that students be given historical context and that Islam be treated with the same academic standards applied to other religions and civilizations.
Esra, a mother of Muslim children in Texas public schools and education advocate, said:
“Words like ‘brutal’ and ‘normalization’ introduce judgments before students examine historical evidence, context, or competing scholarly perspectives…Give our students the entire garden and give them the skills to see its colors for themselves.”
Eyman, a mother of Muslim children in Texas public schools, said:
“Before Islam was powerful, before Islam had armies, it had values — and that’s what it stands on.”
Advocates also framed the debate as a matter of parental rights and religious freedom, arguing that Muslim parents should not have to send their children to public school and then correct a politically distorted portrayal of their own faith at home.
Christian clergy who joined the press conference warned that allowing government officials to selectively characterize one religion should concern Texans of every faith.
Rev. Cristal Silva-McCormick of Austin Seminary said:
“How could they treat the Prophet Muhammad — peace and blessings be upon him — the way that they have in the curriculum? Christians would not want their important figures of their religion, including Jesus who is sacred for Islam as well, to be treated in such a way.”
Rev. Natalie Webb, Senior Pastor of University Baptist Church, said:
“As a Baptist, my history is one that came out of a need for religious freedom, and that banded together with other groups and other religions who were also persecuted by the state church… That is the history of Baptists that many of my Baptist brethren who have gained some power since then have forgotten, but they would do well to remember that no one is free until we’re all free, and that no one’s religion is safe while anyone’s is being prioritized.”
Speakers stressed that the consequences of biased curriculum extend beyond debates over historical interpretation.
Akeela Kongdara of Asian Texans for Justice Fund said:
“When we teach our kids to see one religion as violent and another as virtuous, we don’t create safe classrooms — we create the conditions for stereotyping and identity-based bullying.”
CAIR Action also reiterated concerns about broader historical omissions and distortions in the proposed standards, including the erasure of Palestinian history and the 1948 Nakba, as well as the inadequate treatment of the contributions and experiences of minority communities.
Sameeha Rizvi, Texas Government Affairs and Legislative Manager at CAIR Action, said:
“Slandering Muslims, erasing the historical contributions and realities of minority communities, or omitting pivotal truths like the 1948 Nakba does not protect our children. It harms them. The State Board of Education has a clear duty: take out the biased, hostile and factually inaccurate language and deliver an honest curriculum that respects the dignity and history of every single Texan.”
Advocates emphasized that they are not asking for Islam to receive special treatment, but for the Board to apply a consistent academic standard to every religious and historical tradition.
They also warned that the issue extends beyond Muslim Texans. Muslims revere Prophet Muhammad, Jesus and Moses, and advocates said they would raise the same objections if the state singled out Jesus, Moses or another sacred figure for similarly selective or politically motivated treatment.
CAIR Action and CAIR Texas are calling on the SBOE to use the time remaining before Friday’s final vote to remove the amendments targeting Prophet Muhammad and Islam, correct historically inaccurate and inflammatory language throughout the proposed standards, and ensure Texas students receive an academically rigorous curriculum grounded in evidence rather than political ideology.
TAKE ACTION: Texans are urged to contact State Board of Education members and call for fair, accurate and inclusive social studies standards: bit.ly/fair-texas-education and bit.ly/831toolkit
WATCH: The full press conference livestream is available here
Photos and additional interviews are available upon request.
CAIR Action is a 501(c)(4) organization that empowers the American Muslim community through civic engagement, legislative advocacy and grassroots mobilization to defend civil rights and promote justice for all.
CAIR Texas is the Texas-based chapter of CAIR, a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice and empower American Muslims. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, CAIR Texas does not endorse or oppose candidates for office and makes no claims as to the favorability of one candidate being elected over another.
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CONTACT: CAIR Action Texas Government Affairs and Legislative Manager Sameeha Rizvi, [email protected], 512-893-1371; CAIR-Austin Director, Shaimaa Zayan, [email protected], 512-785-7105; CAIR-DFW Executive Director Mustafaa Carroll, [email protected], 832-549-1042; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]