I am disappointed with the outcome of the HCISD board meeting 9/22/2015. It is very clear that political correctness has infiltrated our small community. 

I have lived in and been to several places that are racially intolerant and Hays is not one of them. I grew up in a primarily Hispanic city and when I moved away, I discovered just how depraved racial tensions still were in many places. My sister went to college out of state where opposite races needed permission to share a dorm. In college, I learned that Odessa Permian had only recently integrated a few years before I graduated from high school. After college, I moved to Houston which was a shocking introduction into narrow-mindedness that I had never experienced. People moving to HCISD are threatening to abolish what makes the community so special. Instead of people learning and embracing cherished traditions, they want to change it. HCISD will become like every other politically correct city spreading like a deadly virus across our country. Does Dixie evoke negative connotations for some people? Yes. Could that be overcome? Absolutely. As an educational institution, it is HCISD’s responsibility to teach and inform those who have it wrong. Retiring Dixie will not stop a racist from being a racist any more than playing Dixie will make a person become one.

Texas is world renown for being our own country and doing things our own way. You cannot change history nor should you disrespect it. Support Hays High School keeping their fight song. Let Dixie play and the sound of community pride to live on.  

Cynthia Hawkins

Buda