On May 21st 2010 the Texas State Board of Education passed new standards of what is to be taught in history in the state’s schools – without having a single historian at any of their meetings. No matter: the white Republicans who make up two-thirds of the board said they were able to pass a balanced standard on their own:
- The separation of church and state is not in the Constitution.
- Thomas Jefferson is downplayed.
- Lincoln’s speeches are studied alongside those of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy during the civil war.
- Capitalism, seen as a dirty word, is now called the free enterprise system.
- Economic prosperity requires “minimal government intrusion and taxation” (a Republican belief).
- High school students are not required to know anything about lynching.
- The Japanese internment was not racist.
- McCarthyism was not so bad after all.
- The United Nations could be a threat to the personal freedom of Americans.
- European imperialism is called imperialism, but American imperialism is called expansionism.
- Soviet expansion is called aggression, but American expansion never is. Only America’s military enemies commit acts of aggression.
- The civil rights movement created “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among black and white Americans.
- Students study the “unintended consequences” of affirmative action.
- Republicans get credit for helping to pass the civil rights laws.
- George Wallace was not trying to defend Jim Crow but “maintain the status quo”.
- The Black Panthers were bad.
- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is driven by Islamic fundamentalism.
- Rock music is an important part of American culture but hip hop is not.
Etc.
Some whites on the board fought to have Cesar Chavez thrown out of the history books but failed. But they were able to keep out other Hispanics, like those who fought for the independence of Texas from Mexico. And this in a state that is one-third Hispanic.
Cynthia Dunbar, who is on the board and had earlier tried to get creationism into the science books, said this:
We are fighting for our children’s education and our nation’s future. In Texas we have certain statutory obligations to promote patriotism and to promote the free enterprise system. There seems to have been a move away from a patriotic ideology.
Nakedly admitting that students learn history not to understand their place in the world but to be brainwashed for the sake of those who run the country.
Most schoolbook history in America is whitewashed but what makes the Texas case remarkable is that it is so naked and open.
The standards determine what will go in schoolbooks and on tests in the state from 2011 to 2021. Texas has 4.8 million students.
Texas is big enough to get what it wants. Most other American states wind up getting stuck with the made-for-Texas schoolbooks.
Some say that with computers publishers can now easily produce different schoolbooks for different states – but whether it will work out that way in practice remains to be seen. Some in California want to pass a law to stop the Texas books from entering their schools.
See also:
I think I was only offended by about 90% of that list, amazing. That quote is remarkable, to admit the purpose of education is not actually learning, but propaganda. I think we can spare some National Guard units to Texas to stop these idiots.
This is more advocation for higher education, because God knows what kids ever learn in grade school. Unless these kids ever move, or go to college they will grow into these ignorant nationalists. They use the word patriotism, because everyone likes that word, but they really want to spread Nationalism, which is poison.
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“Lincoln’s speeches are studied alongside those of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy during the civil war.”
To understand what was going on, it’s probably important to read Davis’ speeches.
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Nakedly admitting that students learn history not to understand their place in the world but to be brainwashed for the sake of those who run the country.
Um… Isn’t that always the case, more or less? This Texas thing is only more and insultingly obvious. Those who are in charge should get a brain and ban those books. And yes, this is coming from a person who is generally against banning of books. But this makes no sense. I do hope they’ll fire those people and hire someone who could write a decent schoolbook.
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My advice…If you can, homeschool your kids. They’ll be getting a more complete education.
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Points that seem reasonable:
•The separation of church and state is not in the Constitution.
•Lincoln’s speeches are studied alongside those of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy during the civil war. (FG is right about this. The South’s reasoning behind secession is usually ignored or depicted as being based exclusively on the defense of slavery)
•McCarthyism was not so bad after all. (He did raise an important issue and many Communists were exposed due to heightened awareness instigated by McCarthy).
•The United Nations could be a threat to the personal freedom of Americans. (It is a threat to American freedom)
•The civil rights movement created “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among black and white Americans. (I agree with this, but it is hard to discuss without talking about IQ. Is primary and secondary school the place for such a discussion?)
•Students study the “unintended consequences” of affirmative action. (Can’t talk about the Civil Rights movement without discussing AA and we can’t talk about AA without talking about reverse discrimination)
•Republicans get credit for helping to pass the civil rights laws. (This is quite right. Many forget that the most ardent segregationists were Democrats when the Civil Rights Act was passed. It could not have passed without Republican support [http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/12/13/194350.shtml]
Points that seem unreasonable:
•Thomas Jefferson is downplayed. (He was a great American, despite being a slaveholder and possibly a rapist)
•Economic prosperity requires “minimal government intrusion and taxation” In all fairness, this is not just a Republican belief. Many Democrats also believe this. Defining “minimal government” is what distinguishes the parties on this issue. At the moment, it seems neither party is really in favor of minimal government.
•High school students are not required to know anything about lynching. (Can’t talk about the history of American Negroes without a discussion of lynching).
•The Japanese internment was not racist. (It was obviously racist, but not irrationally so, given the reality of race)
•The civil rights movement created “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among black and white Americans. (Can’t discuss this without discussing IQ. Maybe IQ discussion should be deferred until later)
•Students study the “unintended consequences” of affirmative action. (This should also be deferred)
•The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is driven by Islamic fundamentalism. (THIS IS COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY UNREASONABLE!!!!)
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Oh…reading this gave me a stomach ache. But the good, need-to-link-this kind of ache.
Excellent post, Abagond. Merci.
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As i read RR comment, his arguments strangely made me think of a man falling down while wondering if he is actually falling down.
So wacky, but yeah.. what else could one do, in such a case.
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ack.. meant to say “is actually falling up”.. but it still works anyway
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Does it matter to check which point is reasonnable or not, when your brain already aknowledge the concept of altering textbook in order to serve a political party’s specific agenda.
What is sought after is less the alteration of textbook, that the deligitimization of the whole process.
“if it can’t be mine forever, then it’s best to break it now, when i have my hands on it”
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RR,
I think the Texas BOE meant that the 1st amendment cannot be discussed.
Every one of the Declaration of Secession mentions slavery as one of the reasons. Are there really that many speeches of Jefferson Davis?
It was and is, not illegal to be communist or to belong to the American Communist Party. McCarthy found very few Soviet spies in his witch hunts. His hearings were mostly posturing, which destroyed many lives during that period. I watched the later hearings on TV. It really wasn’t his job to find spies and certainly not communist, it was the FBI’s. Will the student learn how government is suppose to work. That commission was almost like a recent congress investigation of steroid use in baseball.
The US has used the UN as much as any other nation, hardly think when Colin Powell was making his case for war, the we in jeopardy of losing our sovereignty.
You must have had one of those intended Texas textbook if you think the the Civil Rights movement was about equal outcomes.
We cant talk about AA, unless we talk about Jim Crow. So far we’ve got another forty years to go.
The most ardent Democratic racist had followed Strom Thurmond to the Republican Party, long before the Civil Rights Act passed. Why do you think Goldwater’s platform was part of the southern strategy? That states rights wasn’t a libertarian ideal it came from the white southerner code word to maintain segregation. See this road sign. Second photo in my post.
http://hathor-sekhmet.blogspot.com/2009/01/party-of-lincoln-betrayal.html
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FYI,
It will another 10 years before there can be changes made to the textbook requirements.
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I don’t necessarily think you should homeschool your kids, just make sure they go into advanced placement in high school or put them in private schools.
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So sad. If I stay in Texas my children will definitely be going to private school. Or homeschooling. Unacceptable. Texas is become the shame of the Union.
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Y’know, an old friend of my fathers recently laid this “McCarthy had a point” trip on me. He even sent me some books, which I’ve promised to read. After all, if someone goes out of their way to send you some books,at the very least, you read them. And I will read them and do my best to keep an open mind. and see what the authors have to say.
But one thing bothers me about this guy, who’s supposedly a Republican/libertarian sort. He’s got a fair ammount of capital and thinks Communism was/is evil. And yet he’s spent a good portion of the last decade working in China, apparently for Chinese companies.
Fairly Republican, ain’t it? “The commies were evil until the commies had cash.”
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Hathor,
The Texas BOE does seem to be hostile to the 1st amendment, but that has nothing to do with the BOE’s assertion that the Constitution does not bare the melding of church and state.
Being a member of the Communist party was not illegal, but not disclosing that fact while in Federal employment was illegal. Treason is also illegal and many spies with Communist affiliations, like Alger Hiss et al, were rightly arrested, tried and convicted.
The US Government has used the UN to further the interests of the US Government, whose interests are separate and distinct from the interests of the American people.
The goal of the Civil Rights movement was initially unrelated to equal outcomes, but equal outcomes soon became the movement’s reason for being. Initially, it was assumed that blacks would achieve parity rather quickly when given equal opportunities, Jackie Robinson style. When this didn’t happen, AA came into existence. It was assumed that blacks were underachieving because of the legacy of slavery, so blacks were given AA. It was supposed to just widen the search net, but resulted in quotas. Jim Crow is unrelated to AA unless you are of the opinion that AA is a form of compensation for slavery/segregation.
And there were still more segregationists among the Democrats than there were among the Republicans. From the link I cited earlier:
” Remember that the Republicans were the minority party at the time. Nonetheless, H.R.7152 passed the House on Feb. 10, 1964. Of the 420 members who voted, 290 supported the civil rights bill and 130 opposed it.
Republicans favored the bill 138 to 34; Democrats supported it 152-96. Republicans supported it in higher proportions than Democrats. Even though those Democrats were Southern segregationists, without Republicans the bill would have failed. Republicans were the other much-needed leg of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
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…and that, of course, was due to the Republicans deep concern over social justice, right?
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***sighs***this is ridiculous. what is up w/ texas lately?? the school system is whitewashed already, i agree w/ that. I remember in my private school, we dedicated a whole two years to studying european/american history, but only one year to studying “world history,” which was basically a euphemism for anything outside the european/anglo-saxon. we barely glossed over africa, asia, the middle east, but spent an in depth year going over Europe. Why do white regions get the most time and dedication and africa, asia and regions where the people are brown get a little fraction of a semester…i never understood it.
but texas is just bogus…
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1st we get that immigration bill, now this…why are people going backwards???
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RR,
I did not contradict you about the numbers of Republicans, but on the statement about the most ardent racist were Democrats. I was 19 in 1964. Did you read the post, that I linked.
As for McCarthy finding a few spies out the hundreds of lives he ruined, justifies what? His initial investigations had nothing to do with the Federal employees, he went after the Hollywood movie industry. As I said before, it was the FBI’s jurisdiction, not some whacked out fear monger. My opinion was formed by what I saw and heard, not what I was told by parents (they were at work when the hearing were televised) or the media. At that time, the TV commentator didn’t come on after a news event and explain what was said, as they do now.
Your statement about civil rights is yours, which ought not be put in text books as fact. Obviously you have no idea, what the movement subsequently did after 1964. Segregation wasn’t over, schools were still segregated, housing and job discrimination still existed and neither did affirmative action create all those jobs. The civil right movement continued to do what it had been doing. The civil right movement is not Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, there are many active folk, who are unsung heroes that continued to work quietly with the local governments, corporations and the courts, so that the law was enforced. Not every place was a Boston or some other publicized event, where white folk could yell unfairness.
One Black person is perceived to get one job and ten thousand white folk are offended and feel oppressed. AA will never make up for what I call the AA for white folks, Jim Crow. There were too many of my people who were educated who worked as waiters, porters, chauffeurs, housekeepers, cooks, in hospitals laundry, cafeteria servers. bathroom attendants and plucking chicken feathers, etc. There were only so many professional jobs in the Black community. My dad worked as a mail clerk for the Federal government, with a college degree. He was one out of hundreds that was lucky, when he was able to get a technicians job at an all Black radio station. You had your first. Ebony would publish about a half of dozen every month. Most were in the north, not the south. Maybe three or four hundred first a year, out of 12 million Black people. Since 1964, I doubt that 11 million Black people have unfairly taken any white persons job. As for college admissions, they have never been fair. even when it is was only whites or Blacks(HBCU’s) being admitted.
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Actually peanut, I find world history pretty white washed in general. I took AP and I still felt that the curriculum didn’t go over Asian, African, and Native American cultures enough. No where near as much as the Europeans. I guess since they did conquer most of the world, they’d get the most attention, but even the ancient Roman and Greek cultures got more attention and they were even the best ancient civilizations in my opinion.
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@Peanut
1st we get that immigration bill, now this…why are people going backwards???
It’s called “reaction”, Peanut, and this swing is a reaction to Obama’s victory, which itself was a reaction to 8 years of Bushit, which was a reaction to Clinton…
What we’re seeing here is a body public in the U.S. that is ever more torn between two poles. Yes, the whole “red/blue” thing is a bit of a media-fed exageration undertaken to sell papers and such. But there really is a major polarization going on in American politics.
Tell me your stance on, say, gay marriage and 80% of the time, I’ll be able to tell you your stance on the War Against Terrorism, Affirmative Action, Obama as President, Immigration Law, etc.
Sure, there are exceptions. African Americans, frex, tend to me more conservative on religious-based issues and more liberal on others, but by and large, that’s the way it goes.
Notice with each iteration of this action/reaction cycle, things are getting more extreme, too. I mean, back in 2004, I don’t think any of us realistically expected Obama to win the presidency. That’s what worries me: just the “blue” reflexive reaction of “aw, hell no!” to the Bush years did something that most people said couldn’t occur for decades. Imagine what the “red” side is going to come up with now.
Overall, the “blue” side of this whole scheme has been less activist than the “red” side. Most of what’s seen by “reds” as “blue” plots is simply the normal, evolutive functioning of society as it reacts to changing economic conditions. There is, after all, no RATIONAL reason to be afraid of gay marriage. From a neutral viewpoint, it makes solid economic sense, as does health care reform. Even if most party-based militancy were to stop on these two issues, they’d probably move along because it’s economically necessary to do so.
But from Red Neckerson’s viewpoint out there in Bodine Texas (and like it or not, Red’s people are still a large minority in this country, if not the majority), things is changin’ in ways that’re a might disturbin’. And Red buys The National Enquirer and believes whole-heartedly in the End ‘o Times and conspiracy theories. It’s very easy to convince him that his daughter’s dyed her hair purple and his son is listening to Lady Gaga because there’s a secret conspiracy at the highest levels of government to demoralize the nation.
Red probably wasn’t even an adult during the 1950s, but he’s firmly believed that the post-WWII period was an American Golden Era (and it was, if you were white). He looks around and sees that his kids aren’t going to be able to do the stuff he himself did at their age. The only intellectual framework he has to understand this is in the terms of cryptic conspiracy theory, because Red’s public schools never learnt him some history beyond what American myth provides. Red thus can’t understand why empires go into inevitable decline. The U.S. is God’s Country: things don’ get bad in God’s Country unless the Devil’s at work.
So Red starts casting about for devils and what does he see? A black man in the White House! A woman as Secretary of State! Gays and lesbians KISSING in public!
Yea and verily, brethern: these are truly the end of times.
As that old stand-up comedian “Chucky” Marx described in the “18th Brummaire of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte” (serious required reading for ANYONE in these times), Red’s is a class that’s on its way out the doors of history. The American working-class consumer can no longer be exonomically, ecologically, or politically sustained in their privileged position by the global capitalist system. But Red’s class is still numerically powerful and its willing to ally itself with any demagogue who’ll give it hope.
And this is where the Tea Bagger’s backers and public pundits come in. They could care less about Red, but they recognize that his disatisfaction is a powerful force which they hope to temporarily harness to get back into power.
The Blues have pretty much written Red off, but the Red’s are willing to let him howl at the moon on any issue which they don’t see as inimical to their short term interests. So “Hell yeah, bash those queers, Red boy! Maybe shoot you a couple a n@##$rs to boot. Hayll, we got too many of ’em as it is, anyhow, right? You wanna turn the public schools into propaganda mills for Raptor Jesus, Red? Go right ahead, son! My kids are in private academies anyhow…”
What this is, for those of you who know some American history, is a bit of a replay of the southern racist revolt against populism which occured in the early 20th century. Red’s political and financial backers know their history and their class interests, even if Red doesn’t.
When Red gets his way in the next round of the elections, it’s going to force Blues to up their ante, too. And the resulting rise in tensions is going to rip the res publica apart over the long term, if nothing is done to stop it.
Unfortunately for Americans, a destroyed Republic is ultimately what a lot of the “Red” faction in American politics wants. If your goal is to destroy government by the people and for the people, then you automatically have a positional advantage in this kind of fight: you don’t have to CHANGE anything, you just have to prevent any change from occuring and natural inertia will take the system down of it’s own accord in a couple of generations.
But by then, you will have made your killing and retired with you and yours to some exclusive private retreat to live out the good life while the rest of the world drowns in it’s own sh$%.
Unfortunately, for the world, Red America basically believes that anything more than 20 kilometers off shore is made up of smoke and mirrors organized by Industrial Light and Magic. From the economy to the environment, everything is global now and, as Red America makes it clear to one and all that it doesn’t care what the rest of the world does as long as the oil keeps flowing, things out here are going to change as well.
The rest of the world now realizes very well that it can’t count on the U.S. for anything in the long and medium term. It’s now up to us to start crafting a replacement global order for the one that the Americans are so enthusiastically abandoning.
Red Neckerson can’t believe in a world which doesn’t revolve around his interests. In this sense, his belief in the End of Times is 100% spot one: his world IS coming to and end and only a few of Red’s friends and neighbors are going to be raptured up into whatever replaces it. This situation is REAL in social-historical terms, but not real in the terms Red imagines it to be.
Unfortunately, as Spider Man sez, whith great power comes great responsability. Red is abdicating responsability because he believes Raptor Jesus will come along in 2012 (or 2016… or 2044…) and actually, physcially end the world. And EXTREMELY unfortunately, Red is abandoning rational control over a set of economic and political powers that REALLY COULD PHYSICALLY END THE WORLD.
And if you doubt THAT, just go for a swim in the Gulf of Mexico.
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you know,
there is a considerable problem expressed by employers that undergrads are not prepare for the workforce. In afew decades, that problem will be a contending issue with everything else we must worry about.
And I was already taught the black panthers were bad, or at least, dangerous.
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@ Browncow:
“My advice…If you can, homeschool your kids. They’ll be getting a more complete education.
Good advice for some… except in Texas, the problem is that we are talking about the homes of people who support this law. So I’m sure a lot of white kids in Texas get told the same sorts of bullshit that Abagond listed. A proper school system would at least give a balanced view to encourage kids to make up their own minds.
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On the assumption, that a proper school system is what is at stake , here.
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Asada, the Panthers WERE bad and dangerous.
That is, after all, precisely the point of a revolutionary organization, neh?
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•The civil rights movement created “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among black and white Americans. (I agree with this, but it is hard to discuss without talking about IQ. Is primary and secondary school the place for such a discussion?)
thanx so much
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Wow. Stuff like this would never be gotten away with in other western nations.
The US really needs to contain the right-wing.
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The U.S. , my friends, is dying and this is just another manifestation of its slow slide into fascism.
The world is going to seriously have to look at containing the U.S. in upcoming decades.
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i think all this bullshit the right-wing is spewing out might be in response to Obama’s presidency.
not too long after he won when everyone was saying this was already a “post-racial society”, many black journalists and writers were saying that it may actually increase the racial tension in this country because people feel as though they’re immune to racism if they voted for or support Obama currently.
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If this doesn’t convince all parents to put their children in private schools, I don’t know what will.
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“Asada, the Panthers WERE bad and dangerous.
That is, after all, precisely the point of a revolutionary organization, neh?”
@thad
The Panthers were neither bad nor dangerous.
It’s true that the org was believed to be a threat to the racist power structure of the time. Therefore the racist power structure used media propaganda to reinvent the Panthers as something similar to the KKK (in black). Which understandably terrified the white citizenry, as they were quite familiar with the Klan’s extremely horrific violence against black citizens. And although white citizens approved of these horrific acts when committed against black citizens, they had no interest in experiencing the same–even for the sake of empathy.
Here’s some perspective: the racist power structure also initially saw MLK & the Civil Rights Movement as bad & dangerous.
If anyone ever believed the American History that they were taught in school, the Texas BOE is proof that American History is 99.9% white action hero fiction.
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And this is why we need more minorities teaching American history…white people once again prove they are incapable of doing it themselves.
What they are doing should be illegal since they are trying to brainwash students.
Hopefully the teachers won’t be as dumb as these republicants and will teach real history rather than their racist history standards they made.
I mean these “standards” they made just leaves one asking…whats the point in putting students through school if you are just going to brainwash them and not even let them learn anything of value?
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@Nell
i think all this bullshit the right-wing is spewing out might be in response to Obama’s presidency.
Ya think? 😀
@temple
The Panthers were neither bad nor dangerous.
Let’s get one thing straight first, Temple: I LIKE the Panthers. I particularly like their synthesis of race and class theory which, to my eyes, is sadly lacking in the world today.
But the Panthers were VERY clear on one thing: they were a revolutionary organization. That means they were out to overthrow the current order and install a new one, by force if necessary.
Now I agree with you that the U.S. government overreacted to the Panthers and I agree that the right to discuss revolution is protected by the U.S. Constitution and the Panthers didn’t really go beyond that (except at the behest of certain individuals who were largely agents provacateurs).
But there’s no sugar-coating it, Temple: the Panther’s message was bad and dangerous. “Bad” in the good sense, perhaps, if you agree for the need for revolution, but bad nevertheless.
And you’re right: MLK was also bad and dangerous, too. As was Malcom X. Note that these people myesteriously end up dead, the victims of “lone nut” gunmen….
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Damn.. my family just moved to Texas. I hope my little brother can get enrolled in private school soon, and I’ll def be out of here for college and beyond, lol
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This country is becoming ruled by the “teapartiers”. though idiotic, right winged white bread idealists were around far before that term was created recently, it’s what i choose to describe a mass amount of people who deem themselves part of the stupid revolution. no, not a revolution that is stupid. the opposite- a revolution built around the idea of being an idiot. This is what Palin and the Texas board of education want. idiocy. Why, who would a stupid knuckledragging West Virginian typical American rather vote for? An uppity, liberal elite, tax raising leftist commie, or a pure, patriotic, conventional simple minded dummy like Palin or Bush? Why, I think you know the answer. there was hardly a reaction to this story [ the board story] when it broke. yes, it was on the news, BBC, CNN, daily show, etc but they all presented the unfortunate fact that this cannot be stopped, as other states cannot intervene, even if most state buy their text books from Texas. Why not just create different books, and use those? That’s what id like to know too…sad state the world is in today…see you all in Europe or Canada. this ship’s asinking.
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[…] History in Texas schoolbooks […]
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Just read about this topic in the news again.
How Texas is whitewashing Civil War history
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/whitewashing-civil-war-history-for-young-minds/2015/07/06/1168226c-2415-11e5-b77f-eb13a215f593_story.html)
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Are they talking bible Moses?
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^ I think so.
Haven’t read their textbooks yet.
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