On Wednesday, November 19, the Hindu American Foundation submitted public oral and written testimony to the Texas State Board of Education expressing urgent concern about the Board Working Group’s impartiality and its proposed erasure of ancient African and Asian history, as part of its revisions to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for social studies.
HAF’s written testimony reads in part:
“The current direction of the K–8 framework (Proposal Option G), which focuses heavily on a chronological blend of Texas and US history, severely limits students’ exposure to the origins and development of more than half of the globe’s civilizations and their peoples, and by extension, all the Texans and US citizens that have heritages in these areas of the world.
When the core framework only looks at ancient civilizations in Grade 3 and limits that instruction to a Eurocentric view of the world focused on Western Civilizational history, it is deeply concerning for the following reasons:
- The Working Group’s final recommendations should reflect a commitment to a global and comprehensive understanding of human history.
- Given the adoption of a framework where ancient civilizations outside of the West are effectively deleted from K-8 instruction, the Working Group should work to mitigate notions that these histories are non-essential, which would otherwise result in them failing in their duty to ensure the curriculum is truly “rigorous” and “up-to-date.””
Submitting oral testimony, HAF’s Suraj Pandit stated:
“[Proposed Option G] gives rise to two potential disadvantages for Texas students and their future opportunities for growth in a global world and economy.
The first disadvantage is that by shifting core concepts of World History and World Geography to 3rd grade, we risk introducing complex global civilizations at an age when students struggle to acquire a robust, analytic understanding of the material. This content is essential context for their middle and high school years when they are truly ready for critical analysis. By incorporating the foundational histories of all our diverse Texans, we maximize education’s power to build bridges of understanding and foster cohesion within our vibrant, multicultural tapestry.
The second disadvantage comes with limited exposure to global cultures and communities, which will hinder Texas graduates in being able to interface with people from other countries. While we all agree that prioritizing Texas History and US History is absolutely crucial, Texas is a major global player whose economic and cultural landscape is deeply interwoven with Asia and Africa. Therefore, to truly prepare future Texans for success, we must equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate a globalized world.”
This public testimony caps a year of extensive advocacy in Texas by HAF. During the 2025 Texas legislative session, HAF advocated on 16 bills spanning issues of Diwali, Holi, the separate of church and state, and transnational repression.
In addition to this legislative advocacy, HAF also supported Hindu plaintiffs in the nationally-publicized case pushing back on Texas’ requirement to display the 10 Commandments in all public school in the state.
