Your Chinese massage exam is gone and that's wild
So okay— I heard about this story and I had to do a double-take. Wait wait wait, let me back up. The State of Texas just stopped offering the massage licensing exam in Simplified Chinese. You know what the wildest part is? They're citing "human trafficking" as the reason. It's just... a lot, right? The 13 Investigates team has been digging into this for months, trying to get specifics, and the whole thing just feels heavy, especially for our city.
### What This Means for Houston
Look, Houston doesn't just have a culture; Houston has *every* culture. We're the most diverse city in America, and that's not just a bumper sticker, that's our reality. Think about all the vibrant communities here – the Bellaire Chinatown strip is a world unto itself, right? We have people from all corners of the globe making a life here, building businesses, contributing to our city. To suddenly pull a licensing exam in a language that many first-generation Houstonians might rely on, and then link it to something as serious as human trafficking without a clear explanation? That raises some serious questions about how our state sees and supports its diverse populations.
* This impacts folks who are trying to make an honest living. * It creates an unnecessary barrier for people who might be fluent in Chinese but less confident in English, even if they've lived here for years. * It feels like a step backward when Houston is all about moving forward, about opportunity, about welcoming everyone.
This isn't just about a licensing exam; it's about accessibility, about dignity, and about whether our state is actually working *with* its diverse residents or putting up roadblocks. It's going to hit our communities hard, from those trying to open up a spa in Spring Branch to someone working in a wellness center off Beltway 8. H-Town on the wire — no limits, no zoning, no excuses.
Ani and the crew break this down every morning, you gotta catch it live at mornings.live.