Last week, the Texas State Board of Education approved what is being referred to as “right-leaning altera¬tions” to their social sciences text¬books. The vote came back at 10-5 in favor of these reforms. The current list of alterations that have been approved are indicative of a revisionist view of history. Should these changes be finalized in May after a period of pub¬lic comment, they are guaranteed to have a significant ripple effect across the American education system.
The alterations in question include some incredible disservices to people such as the founding fathers. If Texas has its way, Thomas Jefferson’s role in the founding of this country will be diminished to nothing more than a mention of his name. There were many individuals whose participation in the birth of America was vital, and I would think that the key writer of the Declaration of Independence deserves a little more attention then just a mention.
You may be asking yourself where Texas is encouraging an emphasis during this period instead. The recom¬mendations of the largely Republican board were to focus on the Christian founders of the nation, stressing the idea that the country was founded on Christian doctrine. Someone like Jefferson, who was a firm supporter of the separation of church and state and did not regularly participate in organized religion, does not fit in here, according to the board.
Another interesting shift in the way that history may be viewed comes from shifts in focus regarding the more liberal 1960s, affirmative action, and women’s rights. Instead of view¬ing this period of American history as a step towards equality, the board is seeing an opportunity to alter the lan¬guage, decrease the focus and depict the results as less liberal.
In place of the left leaning portion of the 1960s, there will be a focus on the right leaning time in the 1980s-1990s and the birth of Reaganism.
My issue here is the selective mem¬ory on both sides. The history of these periods include both right and left issues that are vital to understanding the makeup of our current politics and society. The conservative trends of the ’90s mean very little without an hon¬est look at the resurgence of student protests.
At the same time, the liberal shifts of the 1960s are only as important as the conservative points that led to troop increases in Vietnam and the Nixon administration.
While this is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to the reforms (extreme cuts to Latin history, chang¬ing imperialism to expansionism and ignoring the importance of third-party candidates in recent years are issues being tackled as well), these changes will be more far-reaching than just Texas.
Texas supplies the U.S. school sys¬tems with 80 percent of its textbooks. Should these changes become part of the educational standard in Texas, they may soon be joining the educa¬tional standards across the country. Is this fair to the rest of nation? Should the opinion of one state’s educa¬tion board dictate that way the U.S. remembers its own history? In short, no, it should not. While the education system is not perfect, these are not the changes that we need.
Texas approves controversial 'right-leaning' textbook alterations
Published: Friday, March 19, 2010
Updated: Friday, March 19, 2010
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