“The building blocks of this entire city and what it becomes to this day, it’s still off of Black people’s labor, expertise, knowledge, love, hopes, dreams.” “There was a time, in Travis County, that 40% of this population were enslaved Black people,” Wallace says. The downtown walking tours focus on the significant contributions African Americans made to the city. Students and their professors also participated in a Black Austin Tour, created by native Austinite Javier Wallace, who earned a PhD from The University of Texas at Austin.
Edward’s also contemplated and discussed race through the university’s common theme, Reckoning with History.Īs part of the Freshman Seminar, all incoming students read the book How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith, which explores how slavery continues to shape America today. George Floyd’s murder in 2020 sparked a national conversation around race, spurring many individuals and institutions to examine their own ties to racism in America.