How The Texas Textbook Revision Came To Be

From Huffington Post:

In Texas, Thomas Jefferson is set to be removed from the textbook standards explaining how Enlightenment thinkers have influenced revolutions since 1750. Replacing him will be the French theologian John Calvin.

After a long and emotionally-charged debate, the Texas Board of Education -- dominated by a group of conservatives -- voted last week to make this and a host of other changes to the state curriculum, a move that has wide-ranging implications for students across the country.

And

A discussion over gender roles was even more puzzling. The current curriculum asks students to examine how the traditional roles of men and women had changed since the 1950's. But the seven staunch conservatives on the board said they feared the text would promote trans-sexualism and sex change operations.

"They take everything to the extreme," Berlanga said. "They don't trust the teachers, they don't trust the school districts. It has to be their way or the highway."

One amendment required students to learn about the "unintended consequences" of the Great Society, affirmative action, and Title IX programs, and another replaced references to "democratic societies" to references to "republican societies."

And

Huerta was not the only prominent Hispanic left out of the curriculum. Santa Barraza, a Mexican-American painter and teacher whose family is from Texas, was removed after a board member found a painting of hers "questionable." She was replaced by Tex Avery, a Texas-born animator famous for creating well-known cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

In a sign of how sweeping the changes were, hip hop music was removed as a cultural influence, and the Civil Rights movement was glossed over.

More here.

Believe it or not, I don't really have much to say about this. Indeed, while concerned, I'm not particularly worried. Longtime Real Art readers know that I believe that American schools are already profoundly indoctrinational in nature. And this kind of pre-existing indoctrination is far, far more effective than anything lunatic conservatives in Texas are capable of concocting for the state's social studies textbook standards. Generally, the US social studies curriculum is bullshit, anyway, glorifying the nation while downplaying its many failures in such a way that puts most students to sleep: these changes in Texas probably won't do much more than cause deeper sleep. I mean, at best, making social studies coursework reflect the Conservative Movement's bizarre mythology will make Texas kids have more contempt for school than they have now, but, at worst, nothing will change at all. No news is good news. Just another boring piece of shit class to suffer through.

On the other hand, it's hard not to be shocked and amazed by how fucked up these people are.

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