In the latest chapter of racist Republicans rewriting history and dumbing down our children, elementary school children in Virginia are now using a textbook that pays homage to the "thousands of Southern Blacks" that fought alongside their white Confederate brothers to preserve the ideals of the Confederacy:
A textbook distributed to Virginia fourth-graders says that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War -- a claim rejected by most historians but often made by groups seeking to play down slavery's role as a cause of the conflict.
The passage appears in "Our Virginia: Past and Present," which was distributed in the state's public elementary schools for the first time last month. The author, Joy Masoff, who is not a trained historian but has written several books, said she found the information about black Confederate soldiers primarily through Internet research, which turned up work by members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
The emphasis is all mine, but that should really tell you all you need to know about what happens when Republicans get their hands on the educational system. You get non-historians writing history based on rumor and hearsay. What's next? Glenn Beck's books being introduced to the curriculum?
The author of the book defended her book thusly:
Masoff defended her work. "As controversial as it is, I stand by what I write," she said. "I am a fairly respected writer."
What a great thing to say about oneself.
Even one of the historians whose work Masoff claims validates her writings says it's all bullshit:
Masoff said one of her sources was Ervin Jordan, a University of Virginia historian who said he has documented evidence -- in the form of 19th-century newspapers and personal letters -- of some African Americans fighting for the Confederacy. But in an interview, Jordan said the account in the fourth-grade textbook went far beyond what his research can support.
"There's no way of knowing that there were thousands," Jordan said. "And the claim about Jackson is totally false. I don't know where that came from."
The Virginia Board of Education has already caved on this, much like Governor Bob McDonnell was forced to backtrack on his Confederate History Month gaffe, but just like with the gaffe, the damage has already been done. The books are printed and ready to brainwash the children of Virginia.