Sunday, March 14, 2010

Keep in mind, there were no historians, sociologists, or other experts present...



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html?ref=education

I encourage you to read this article, because it is shocking and horrible. Essentially, texas conservatives were able to change school curriculum in their state and tailor it to their made up, racist version of history. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the article:

"Efforts by Hispanic board members to include more Latino figures as role models for the state’s large Hispanic population were consistently defeated, prompting one member, Mary Helen Berlanga, to storm out of a meeting late Thursday night, saying, “They can just pretend this is a white America and Hispanics don’t exist.”

“They are going overboard, they are not experts, they are not historians,” she said. “They are rewriting history, not only of Texas but of the United States and the world.” "

This is so racist. These people are trying to create a 'final solution' for their curriculum, 'purifying' it with only white history. Texas is 37% Latino!

"The conservative members maintain that they are trying to correct what they see as a liberal bias among the teachers who proposed the curriculum. To that end, they made dozens of minor changes aimed at calling into question, among other things, concepts like the separation of church and state and the secular nature of the American Revolution."

The separation of church and state as a liberal bias...interesting.

"Dr. McLeroy, a dentist by training, pushed through a change to the teaching of the civil rights movement to ensure that students study the violent philosophy of the Black Panthers in addition to the nonviolent approach of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He also made sure that textbooks would mention the votes in Congress on civil rights legislation, which Republicans supported."

I am confused by this...they want to portray the Black Panthers in a negative light and thereby discredit the positive image of the civil rights movement while including the fact that republicans supported civil rights legislation? I don't get it.

"Mr. Bradley won approval for an amendment saying students should study “the unintended consequences” of the Great Society legislation, affirmative action and Title IX legislation. He also won approval for an amendment stressing that Germans and Italians as well as Japanese were interned in the United States during World War II, to counter the idea that the internment of Japanese was motivated by racism."

Oh yeah, the internment camps were definitely not motivated by racist fears. That's like saying that this is the case in the Holocaust because gays and political dissenters were in concentration camps with the Jews. I can't even understand why this is necessary or how it benefits the conservative agenda. It's just more racism! Just like the civil rights movement junk they are adding.

"They also replaced the word “capitalism” throughout their texts with the “free-enterprise system.” "

Yeah, real tricky guys.

"n the field of sociology, another conservative member, Barbara Cargill, won passage of an amendment requiring the teaching of “the importance of personal responsibility for life choices” in a section on teenage suicide, dating violence, sexuality, drug use and eating disorders.

“The topic of sociology tends to blame society for everything,” Ms. Cargill said."

What the fuck???? This is messed up. I'm sure they're going to help a lot of suicidal teens and teens with eating disorders by telling them to blame themselves.

"“We are adding balance,” said Dr. Don McLeroy, the leader of the conservative faction on the board, after the vote. “History has already been skewed. Academia is skewed too far to the left.”"

Yes, this all does seem very balanced.

I find this so upsetting. I hope the people of Texas scream out for justice!

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