Rosenthal says French inferred foreign status from skin color

Texas state representative and Democratic nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner posting on X.

I spent 25 years as an oil and gas engineer. Bo French spent Sunday morning sorting our student section by skin color. Greg Abbott said Bo French would “wreck” our oil and gas industry. A man who can’t tell a Longhorn from a foreigner has no business regulating anything in TX.
The UT Austin Main Building and Tower, with students walking across the front plaza.
Credit: Daderot / Wikimedia Commons

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Was Bo French’s UT Austin post racist?

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Source and context

Original post

Jon Rosenthal criticizes Bo French’s interpretation of the student-section image (opens in a new tab)X post 2099230383740956959.

About this source

Rosenthal’s direct response criticizes French for inferring foreign status from the fans’ appearance.

Reporting

CBS Texas reports on Bo French’s posts and responses from Greg Abbott and R.C. Damle (opens in a new tab)Statements attributed to Greg Abbott and R.C. Damle and verification of the image’s source.

About this source

Original local reporting that verified the still came from an official Texas Athletics video and published Abbott’s direct response.

Before the quotation

French had connected the image to claims that Americans were being displaced by foreigners.

After the quotation

Rosenthal continued to argue that French’s remarks threatened confidence in the Railroad Commission.

Condemned
How this statement is classified

Rosenthal directly condemns the conduct under scrutiny as race-based and argues it makes French unfit for the office he seeks.

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Bo French

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Greg Abbott

That is not my message. A selective picture of Longhorn fans celebrating our biggest home victory-ever-actually shows a way that Texans unite. We all support our college football teams. The way we win the state is the same way we win football games. We unite under the brand of Texas. That doesn't mean that Texas cannot also lead in having the toughest immigration laws of any state in America and freezing H1B visas at our universities.
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Brandon Morse

But what the people who tend to side with French are saying is that this is not at all what's happening, and they're right, too. This isn't natural immigration happening here. It's happening at such a rapid pace that the percentage of Indians arriving in places like North Texas is rising by leaps and bounds, and as it does, the culture shifts dramatically.
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