When it comes to reporting on Texas, far too often liberals and progressives are tempted to shrug our shoulders and say, “Well, what did you expect? It’s Texas.” And I get it. But ultimately, it’s a harmful and painful response that doesn’t do much to truly help all of the folks who are stuck in a Republican-dominated state—much less the folks who want to be there, conservatives in power be damned. There are countless reasons why LGBTQ+ people, people of color, disabled people, and others historically marginalized by Republicans in power remain in “red” states, ranging from voter suppression to job opportunities to health care to family history. It’s complicated.
With this in mind, a recent story out of Texas concerns yet another horrible but not terribly surprising move from the Carroll Independent School District (ISD) in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In 2021, Republicans pushed ahead SB 797, a law that mandates public schools and colleges to display signs including the national motto (“In God We Trust”) and include the American flag if the signs come from donations.
More recently, as reported by local outlet ABC 13, a parent tried to donate “In God We Trust signs”—written in Arabic. And features rainbow colors. Guess how that went?
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As reported by the outlet, Cameron Bryon, the president of the school board, initially told Srivan Krishna, the parent who wanted to donate the signs, that the school had enough posters. But Krishna pushed back on that obviously flimsy explanation and pointed out the law doesn’t say you have to stop at a certain number of donated signs.
“That is your decision to stop at one,” Krishna said during the school board meeting on Monday. “Why is more God not good? And are you saying you don't have like one square foot of space in our buildings?" He added that he thought it was “kind of un-American” for the board to reject posters of the national motto, per NPR.
It’s not as though the district had turned down other sign donations, either. As reported by local outlet WFAA 8, for example, the district had already accepted a number of “In God We Trust” signs from Patriot Mobile, a conservative cellphone company that had donated $500,000 in several school board races in the state—including Carroll ISD.
In fact, as pointed out by Ed Week, trustees of the board actually posed for photos with the donated signs when they came from Patriot Mobile. Funny how that works.
"It’s very frustrating that we’re being excluded intentionally by our schools,” Krishna said per the outlet. “And that’s why it’s very frustrating for us.”
Now, it’s obviously outrageous that laws are inserting religious messages into schools. It’s additionally infuriating that conservative companies are dipping even further into school boards with their dollars. But kids—and even teachers and staff—can’t simply up and leave the state. They can’t just snap their fingers and live in a blue state where they wouldn’t have to worry about this.
That’s part of why I think Krishna’s point is so valuable and admirable; is anyone surprised these signs were rejected? Honestly, no. But is still important to try? Is it still valuable to make conservatives sweat? Is it still an opportunity to get people to realize the hypocrisy here? Yes, yes, and yes.
Did I really expect signs like these to be displayed in public schools in Texas per this ridiculous law? No. But I’m still glad to see advocates are getting creative in getting their message across.
You can check out some local reporting, as well as clips of Krishna holding the signs, below.
