For one Black school board candidate in Texas, election day ends with prayers, slurs...

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NBC News
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A Black woman in Texas ran a school board election campaign defending diversity and inclusion efforts. After weeks of insults, the results are in.

nbcnews.com
For one Black school board candidate in Texas, election day ends with prayers, slurs and a razor-...
Orjanel Lewis saw her school board race as a high-stakes referendum on her community’s core values. After weeks of heated campaigning, it was time for voters to decide.
3:02 AM · May 10, 2022

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/black-womans-campaign-school-board-texas-rcna27969?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

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“The partisanship and the politicization of the race here in Fort Bend County has caused so much division that we’ve lost sight of what this is all about, which is supporting teachers and providing the best possible education for all students,” Lewis said early Saturday as she prepared to greet voters.

One of her opponents, a 38-year-old insurance agent named David Hamilton, promised he would keep “critical race theory” out of Fort Bend schools, referring to the academic study of systemic racism, which conservatives have redefined to criticize lessons on race. Hamilton, who’s white, also made headlines last month after a group of parents publicized several controversial posts he’d made on his personal social media pages, including a tweet that accused liberals of wanting to “sexualize kindergarteners.”

Hamilton’s campaign didn’t respond to messages requesting an interview, but in an earlier statement shared with reporters, it said he was “committed to equality and justice for all people.”

With conservative groups spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to win seats on school boards across Texas, Lewis tried to position herself as a stark alternative: a Black mother who ran a campaign openly defending the types of diversity and inclusion efforts that have come under attack from Republicans over the past year.

Outside the polling site Saturday morning, Lewis said she hoped her message was resonating.

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