A group of Texas educators wants to omit the word “slavery” from second-grade social studies instruction and instead use the phrase “involuntary relocation.”

According to The Texas Tribue, the group of nine educators submitted a proposal to the Texas State Board of Education asking them to consider the phrasing as part of its once-a-decade update to the social studies curriculum for the state’s nearly 8,900 public schools.

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Board members, however, are seemingly not sold on the idea, as the term “involuntary relocation” does not accurately represent the slave trade. The board reportedly sent the proposal back to the group of educators, asking them to “carefully examine the language used to describe events.”

“The board — with unanimous consent — directed the work group to revisit that specific language,” Keven Ellis, chair of the Texas State Board of Education, said in a statement, according to the Tribune.

“I can’t say what their intention was, but that’s not going to be acceptable,” Board member Aicha Davis, a Democrat who represents Dallas and Fort Worth told the Tribune on Thursday, NBC News reports. 

“I am not going to support anything that describes the slave trade as ‘involuntary relocation,’ ” she said. “I’m not gonna support anything that diminishes that journey.”

“The topic of slavery is not currently addressed in the 2nd Grade curriculum; this work is meant to address that deficiency,” said Ellis. 

It’s worth noting that a social studies textbook was previously approved for use in the state that called U.S. slaves “workers.”

Circa 1830: A slave auction in America. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

The nine educators who are advising the board suggested that the social studies curriculum should “compare journeys to America, including voluntary Irish immigration and involuntary relocation of African people during colonial times.”

Davis noted that “the journey for the Irish folk is totally different from the journey of Africans,” and said any comparisons “will distort a lot of things in a young child’s mind.” 

The working group of educators reportedly includes “teachers, social studies specialists, instructional coaches and a university professor,” per The Washington Post. 

The Texas Education Agency addressed the backlash to the proposal in a statement posted on Twitter. 

“As documented in the meeting minutes, the SBOE provided feedback in the meeting indicating that the working group needed to change the language related to ‘involuntary relocation,’ ” the statement said.

“Any assertion that the SBOE is considering downplaying the role of slavery in American history is completely inaccurate.”

Annette Gordon-Reed, a history professor at Harvard University, is among the critics of the proposed language, saying “Young kids can grasp the concept of slavery and being kidnapped into it.”

“The African slave trade is unlike anything that had or has happened, the numbers and distance,” Gordon-Reed added. 

“Tell children the truth. They can handle it,” she said.

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