Shame on Texas: Tinkering with the Truth

This article was written several years ago by Michael Streich

College students in American History survey courses are often amazed to learn that George Washington never really chopped down a cherry tree or that Columbus did not sail from Spain to prove that earth was round and not flat. They may even learn that Patrick Henry may never have said “Give me liberty or give me death.” Historical myths will always be part of a national psyche. In Texas, however, the rewriting of history standards, approved on May 21^st by the State Board of Education, will subject students to ten years of ideologically based revisionism.

 

When Educators Tinker with the Truth

 

During the 1930s in Germany, the Nazi regime revamped educational standards to conform to ideological prerogatives, excising all mention of Jews or their contributions in Germany’s past. The infamous Berlin book burning in 1933 signaled the attack on truth. In Stalinist Russia, history texts purged all references to anti-Stalinist movements such as the Kronstadt Uprising of 1921.

 

In Texas schools, Thomas Jefferson will be punished for his views on the separation of church and state. References to the third president will be limited. Despite all academic and scholarly acceptance, the board refused to change B.C. and A.D. to B.C.E. and C.E. Changes reflecting conservative views prevailed because Conservatives hold the majority on the board, a group the Huffington Post called the “Far-Right” (May 21, 2010).

 

Although President Obama will be included in American History, the Board voted to insert his middle initial “H” after rejecting an effort by Board member David Bradley to include the full middle name, “Hussein.” (Karina King, News 8 Austin, May 21, 2010) Almost all of the changes are products of the so-called “culture war” and do little in presenting balance or diversity. The suggestion that the United Nations may be a threat to U.S. sovereignty violates every notion of globalism and Global Studies, a growing field of study in universities as well as high schools.

 

Effects of the Changes in History Standards

 

Almost 5 million schoolchildren in Texas will be affected by the changes. The changes will also necessitate the revising of text books. Because Texas is one of the nation’s largest textbook purchasers (along with California), the possibility exists that other states may receive those texts as they update. According to the California Chronicle (May 22, 2010), State Senator Leland Yee has prepared a bill to be voted on next week by the legislature (SB 1451) that will require the California Board of Education to vet all new textbooks to ensure that the Texas changes are not included. The newspaper quotes Yee as stating, “The social science curriculum should be based on facts and not political ideology.”

 

Publishers, however, state that technology has made it easier to “tailor” textbooks to particular markets. Joseph Blumenfeld with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt told the Washington Post (March 18, 2010 – article by Michael Birnbaum) that “We now how the ability to deliver completely customized content.” Though comforting to other states, it doesn’t change the history curriculum in Texas.

 

In 1811, Thomas Jefferson wrote Pierre Paganel that, “The art of printing secures us against the retrogradation of reason and information.” The Texas changes may be challenged in the state legislature or through the judiciary, but for now millions of students in Texas will learn history written by a handful of conservative school board members that have scant training in or in-depth knowledge of American History.

P.S. Did you know Sam Houston was a drunk? That Davy Crockett a "Deadbeat dad?"

 

Copyright of this article owned by  Michael Streich. Any reprints required written persmission