Every ten years, the school board sets forth new amendments for the rewriting of textbooks, in an attempt to keep the educational system accurate. Or so you would think. Instead, the radicals on The Board of Education want to rewrite history itself.
Opening with a prayer, one of the board members calls for "a Christian land governed by Christian Principles." At the end of the day, it's a political and religious agenda. Don McLeroy, one of the most controversial boards members (who was thankfully voted out of office after this term) hopes that these revisions will show that the principles on which the American nation were founded are solely Christian principles.
Here are just a few amendments that our children have the privilege of learning over the course of ten years:
- The renaming of The Slave Trade to The Atlantic Triangular Trade
- The inclusion of the importance of Country Music in our nation (Hip Hops influence on cultural movement was turned down.)
- Attempts to remove Thurgood Marshal (The first black Supreme Court Justice) and Cesar Chavez (labor organizer and Hispanic activist) were denied but the author Bill Martin Junior (Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See) was removed (having been mistaken for another Bill Martin who had written a critical book on capitalism.)
- The watering down of The Civil Rights Movement and The Womens Movement. McLeroy is quoted in an interview as saying; "equal rights: womens right to vote, the women didn't vote on it, the men did, the man passed it for the women, eventually the civil rights act, it took the majority vote, in other words, the minorities were not able to do it for themselves, it took the majority to do it for the minorities."
- "Capitalism" changed to "Free Enterprise," though "US Expansionism" was not changed to "Imperialism." In the 19th century, Hawaii was taken over by America before becoming a state. Under the conditions this would be considered Imperialism, not Expansionism.
- The Moral Majority, The NRA and The Contract with America will be included with no progressive counterbalance.
- Thomas Jefferson's influence on 18th and 19th century revolutions be downplayed due to the "misconception" that Jefferson ever believed in "the separation of Church and State."
- Senator John McCartys blacklisting of several Americans in the 1950's, many of them African Americans, will be noted as justified despite evidence to say otherwise.
- The study of the violent philosophy of The Black Panthers must be included alongside that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Credit to be given to Republicans for votes into Congress on Civil Rights Legislations.
- Sections stressing the internment of Germans, Italians and the Japanese to negate allegations that the Japanese were solely interned during WWII due to racism.
- Sociology teachings will include "the importance of personal responsibility for the life choices in a section on teenage suicide, dating violence, sexuality, drug use, and eating disorders."
- The board refused to require that students be taught that "the US Constitution prevents the government from promoting one religion over all others."
- Barbara Cargill stated her concern over the discussion of sex and gender in sociology courses, saying she was "worried these discussions would lead students into a world of transvestites, transsexuals and who knows what else."
- A 10-5 voted rejected the proposition that Tejanos be acknowledged as fallen heroes of the Alamo.
- The world was created 10,000 years ago and Creationism must be expressed highly alongside any discussions of the beginning of existence.
With The Board of Education of Texas sitting at 10(R) - 5(D) it is no wonder so many right winged ideologies have been imposed into this revision. McLeroy calls the confusion between Bill Martin Junior and Bill Martin "embarrassing," stating "someone didn't get their facts straight." Sounds like that covered the entire revision, doesn't it? McLeroy caused further uproar when he blatantly said, "it was the men that gave the women the right to vote." Awww, why thank you, kind Sir. Feel free to ignore all of the female activists that spent their lives attempting to get equal rights for women. Carrie Chapman Catt, Susan B. Anthony, Belle Sherwin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Skapes.
Is everything in our current textbooks 100% accurate? Of course not. Hell, I grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. Sorry Pluto, you are too small! My problem here is not the analysis of our history, the questioning of what is accurate or not. My problem is the sole fact that our history lays in the hands of people like McLeroy. A White Republican Christian Male with a strong political and religious agenda. He's a fucking dentist for Christ's sake. He's not a historian. This is not an attempt at historical accuracy, this is hate.
I love and hate people equally. But I refuse to send my son, when the times comes, into the arms of an educational system that will attempt to teach him that his Hispanic heritage means nothing in this country, that women mean less in this country and that this country was made solely for Christians. Did our ancestors not flee to this country to avoid religious persecution? And yet, we have turned into the evil dragon we ourselves condemn.
It is easier to paint a picture than it is to take one. That is my absolute favorite saying. And it is the absolute truth in this case. America does not have a positive history. We are responsible for so many misfortunes of this world. We have persecuted people on our own soil. We have invaded other countries and killed innocents in the name of God. For every advancement we have made, we have taken a million steps back. But it is apart of our makeup. It is the truth of our existence. To deny what we have done is to deny who we are.
If the infection that is this new history spreads, it is inevitable that this country will fall to its ruins. If it stays in the confines of Texas, the battle only begins. A state of soldiers will be made, carrying unfortunate views of the truth. Skewed and fogged by ideologies from a board of unqualified imbeciles.
History. History. His Story. Those books will not contain my story. My sons story. The truth of the world we live in. It is a sad day. It is a tragic day. Now, I wonder if this dictatorship is what their God had in mind. I almost pity the Christian nation. For those that truly believe out of faith. Oh, how you are so poorly represented.
My son will not see himself in those textbooks. He will not know the good and evil this country has created. But I will be his mirror. I will, to the best of my ability, show him the truth. One step at a time. Guess this means I'll be going back to college. If the world wishes to fall to the hands of one way of thinking, I'll teach him diversity on my own.
FTN! to one mind of one monster under one God. Everything IS bigger in Texas. Including the hatred and ignorance.
