The brilliant conservative minds in Texas are at it again, Kossacks. This time, instead of just mandating the Bible, putting something into curriculum that doesn't need to be there, they are taking something out. That would be liberal historical figures. More below the jump.
This from Think Progress' Lee Fang:
The Texas State Board of Education review committee is preparing to vote on a draft of proposed standards for history textbooks. Noting that the draft has "nothing about liberals," the Houston Chronicle reported:
The first draft for proposed standards in United States History Studies Since Reconstruction says students should be expected *"to identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly and the Moral Majority."* [...] Others have proposed adding talk show host Rush Limbaugh and the National Rifle Association.
The 15-member committee, stacked with 10 Republicans, is expected to vote along party lines. Earlier this year, a panel of right-wing "experts" produced a report urging the committee to remove biographies of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Stephen F. Austin, César Chávez, and instead add history about the "motivational role the Bible and the Christian faith played in the settling of the original colonies."
The frightening thing about this is, as far as text books go, Texas is the largest purchaser in the nation. So, sadly, as goes Texas, so goes the nation. So while our children should be learning about Lincoln and slavery and Johnson and Kennedy and civil rights our children will learn seething hatred and terms like "moral majority," as if most of these conservatives have a "moral" bone in their body.
See, these conservatives aren't interested in our constitution. It's proof positive right here. They don't want our children learning the true nature of our history because it might--gulp--sway our children to liberal beliefs? The truth, as they say, has a well known liberal bias. We cannot allow this in a nation where thought and open debate is supposed to be the foundation on which this country could thrive. We cannot ignore our founders and throw their legacies under the bus because of a political ideology that deems it more convenient to do so. The blatant partisanship and underlying hatred for all things open-minded is a slap in the face to truth, justice, and our way of life. See you in court, Texas. It won't be long now...