Democratic Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico has claimed that white people spread the "virus of racism" by being alive. These comments were made in a series of resurfaced tweets from 2020. The comments came shortly after the death of black male, Ahmaud Arbery, who was mistakenly mistaken for an armed burglar by a father and a son. Talaric also stated that while white people don't necessarily show symptoms of racism, the only cure is to diagnose the virus within themselves. He has pledged to co-authorise legislation requiring schools to explicitly teach diversity, equity, and inclusion and has filed House Bill 4111 to the Texas House that would mandate school districts over a certain size to hire a diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer.