‘You Have to Teach the Thing They Tell You Not to’: Defending Academic Freedom at the University of Texas

“We do not come to be polite. We come to be truthful,” Dr. César Cruz said in his prayer that began a panel discussion held on March 10 at the University of Texas, Austin. Part of that truth, according to panelist Nikole Hannah-Jones, the creator of The 1619 Project, is that attacks on higher education in Texas and across the nation have “the intent to erode democracy.”