Rachel Maddow: Texas Textbooks Bid Adieu To Thomas Jefferson
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The Texas textbook debate continues to rage on after the Texas Board of Education approved Friday some radical changes to its social studies curriculum. Last night Rachel Maddow summed up some of the (fairly disturbing) revisions the conservative Board is making to the state’s history textbooks — changes that will affect students (possibly nationwide, since Texas textbooks are in great demand) for the next ten years. Behold.
The nation is looking down the barrel of potentially ten years of history books in Texas that require students to learn about Phyllis Schlafly and the National Rifle Association. Standards that put the inaugural address of the Conferderate States of America, Jefferson Davis, alongside the inaugural address of a commie, socialist you’ve probably never heard of called Abraham Lincoln. The standards also demote Thomas Jefferson from the list of influential thinkers from the Enlightenment. Because, who knew(!?)…really hard right conservatives hate Thomas Jefferson because he wrote about the separation of church and state. And that travesty overshadows that other little thing he wrote: what was it? Declaration of what and who now? The whosie, whatsie of independence? Some communist tract that should be wiped from history, no doubt!
That’s two cable mentions of the Declaration of Independence in one night! Glenn Beck and Rachel Maddow should consider collaborating on an updated version of Schoolhouse Rocks. Video below.
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8 comments
Okay.. if it is true ( This IS Rachel ‘ dnc smear merchant n chief’ Madcow after all) then it
is disturbing.
Mao’s China did the same thing. It was called “The Cultural Revolution”.
It is true, Fidoohki, in the sense that space was to be taken from Jefferson, he’ll still be mentioned, and reallocated to Jospeh McCarthy, and the Lincoln’s (First) Inaugural Address is to be scaled back to make room for Jefferson Davis’ Inaugural Address. There is also a mandate to include Phyllis Schalfly and the NRA. So, Rachel is correct in that a right wing fringe element seems to be in control of school books in Texas, and, since Texas is the largest single purchaser of text books in the country, to the nation as a whole. However, there is a bit of nuance missing. The mandates, although in place, are not likely to be enforced. Rightist crazies have always controlled text book approval in Texas, but, when the books are actually published, the changes mandated seem to have been toned down in volume and content. The publishers will not make the changes to the letter, and the Texas Education Agency, less controlled by the crazies, will issue exemptions to individual school districts which need the new texts, almost on request. Moreover, and this is crucial point, the crazies cease to be in control come 1 January. Three (3) of the extreme rightists, are off the Board. Two (2) of the Republicans were so outlandish they were defeated in the Republican primary, if you can believe that, and one (1) of the rightist Democrats knew he would not withstand the Democratic primary, and he elected not to run. The new Board will be moderate and, for a welcome change, pro-education.
I haven’t been following the Texas thing too closely, other than to see that on the surface, it looks like both sides of the political aisle has been rankled in one fashion or another.
Though, if you were to ask me, I’d hope that something which might come out of this whole is hoo-haw would be a discussion on how textbooks are marketed.
Texas is the biggest, so a lot of folks claim that their curriculum standards would become somewhat national, while I don’t know who has the smallest volume, but maybe they should ask “why bother?”.
It seems to me that in this age, when I can order a single printing of a book via Lulu or a digital download from Amazon that we might consider regulating Houghton-Mifflin into building a database of textbook content and then plugging/playing the appropriate paragraphs or chapters into each state’s edition.
I mean, it’s not like the textbook manufacturers don’t have guaranteed sales to a captive market…
The Real Royal King says:
March 16, 2010 at 9:56 am
It doesn’t seem as bad after you explained it. Still uncomfortable though but since I’ve always
believed the best way to combat fear and hate is through knowledge and understanding, studying
both Joseph McCarthy and the Civil war from another perspective seems to fit right in. I wonder if
she got it wrong on the National Rifle association though? While I can see it, it’s Texas after all,
there was also an NRA = National Recovery Administration that was FDR’s main new deal
programs. Maybe she saw NRA and decided it meant the modern one?
I think your point about publishing technology fits into this scenario very well, Magister.
By the way, Fidoohki, I do believe it is essential part of education to cover such topics as the Civil War from both perspectives. Some part of the divide in our nation goes back to that era, and we don’t understand ourselves or our nation if we don’t understand the root of some of our differences. Similarly, McCarthyism must be taught and be understood. President Eisenhower felt that our nation was frozen by McCarthyism at a time when we ought to be exploding technologically. We could go on and on, and education will never be completely objective, but the more to which we expose our children, the better able they are to understand themselves, our nation and our role in the world.
I have to say, cutting back on Jefferson bothers me tremendously. He is a fascinating figure to begin with, but more importanly, how does one understand our democracy, our Republic, without understanding Jefferson (and, I would add Jackson)? I won’t insult you by using Jackson’s first name in my question to you, but for Writer and his sort, Andrew Jackson, not Jessee Jackson.
The Real Royal King says:
March 16, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I agree but when you got a vast amount of history and only so much space in the book, triage has to
be done though the idea of cutting Jefferson for Phyllis Schlafly really sets wrong with me. Maybe it’ll
be a signal to other states to use their own standards when buying text books.
I find it best these days to do my own research, and if anyone is interested they can check out all that has been reported in the media here:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=3643
You read, you decide!
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