For years Conservatives have complained that schools of Higher Learning were dominated by Liberal professors who poisoned the young minds of Americans with thoughts of America being bad and how Capitalism was a terrible economic and social system. Maybe I missed something but college was not a breeding ground for Liberal development. College provided an opportunity of “Higher Thought” and helped developed various views of intellectual thinking. On 2nd thought; intellectual though…. That sounds like something a Democrat would embrace while Conservatives like Sarah Palin dislike. At the Tea Party Nation Convention Sarah Palin made that perfectly clear when she stated, “We (United States) needed a Commander-In-Chief NOT a Professor of Law…” I guess that makes all the sense in the world, because intellects think too much; hmmmm….
So now we have our current political environment where Republicans feel as if they must save the country from Liberals aka Socialist and their terrible thoughts and ideas. The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) which consists of a 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats have proposed what they (Republicans) would deem as minor changes to the type of language used in textbooks purchased by the state of Texas. The changes proposed and approved on March 12th are as follows:
Additions by SBOE include:
– The conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.
– Replacing the word “capitalism” with the term “free-enterprise system” because of concerns that “capitalism” had become more of a negative connotation
– The study of American Exceptionalism
– The inclusion of the study or increased focus on leaders from the Confederacy, including a side by side comparison of Jefferson Davis’s inaugural speech with Abraham Lincoln’s speech
The following SBOE chose to remove, not include or not make mandatory several other provisions such as:
– Removing Thomas Jefferson from a list of writers who inspired the revolutions of the
late 18th and 19th Century and replacing him with St. Thomas of Aquinas, John Calvin, and William Blackstone
– Not mandating that students are taught that Hispanics fought in the Battle of the Alamo against Santa Anna
– Not including that the founding fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring the government from promoting or disfavoring any particular religion above all others
– Removing any reference to the United States as “democratic” and mandating that it be referred to as a “constitutional republic”
More than 100 amendments to the 120-page course curriculum for history, sociology and economics.
I know what many of you are thinking; So What? That’s Texas, they are ass backwards country folks that will be stuck in the good old boys days. Except this is bigger than the Texas State Board of Education, Texas is the 2nd largest buyer of textbooks in the United States. California being the largest, but with Cali in such a bad economic state they will not be the #1 buyer this year and possible for the next several years. Again you all are probably still saying, SO WHAT?
Here is why we ALL need to be concerned; I never realized that the language in textbooks (used by most schools) that we used to study in school are influenced by the largest purchaser. I always thought there was a standard that every state followed, should have known better. Like everything else in this world the almight dollar drives production. The textbook industry cannot afford to ignore a market like Texas. When California held the title of #1 buyer looks like intellect was more of a focus instead of agenda. For example I read some where that there was one proposal to replace any mention of hip-hop with country music. Why can’t we have both genre of music mentioned? Bye Jay-Z and HELLO Kenny Chesney!!
Well now Republicans have seized the moment. They figured if we can’t change colleges from being so Liberal lets influence the minds of the young starting in middle school. Why not have more minds like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney etc… What kills me is that these were the same Republicans that were opposed to President Obama addressing kids on the first day of school fearing that he was going to use that address to influence kids. How is this any different? It’s not, except their influence will last more than a 5-10 minute video address!!
Trust that these changes have the full support of the Republican Party; it was the Republicans led by Newt Gingrich in the 90s that led the “Republican Revolution”. When Former President Clinton was elected and Democrats won control of the Congress; Republicans decided to focus on elections at every level. They wanted a Republican in every official office possible and that included Board of Education positions, and shaping the future of our kids was exactly what they wanted. The new Young Republicans that will grow up to become Mayors, Governors, Senators and even Presidents.
I feel as if we are at a cross-road in life; this country is so polarized right now. You’re either Rich or Poor; the middle-class is a dying breed.
You look at the points the Texas SBOE want to add/remove from the textbooks and it’s a dangerous curriculum they are trying to push. Every so often Texas talks about succeeding from the Union aka the United States; it was just last year that Gov Rick Perry (Texas) talked about succeeding from the Union. So of course they would want to put MORE focus on the inauguration speech of Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederate States).
As if there isn’t enough partisanship in politics today, let’s just preach more separation instead of focusing on coming together as One Nation.
These kats even want to take away using the term Democratic when referring to the United States, WTF! According to Texas the United States should be referred to as a “Constitutional Republic”. I wonder why????
Could it be that the Texas SBOE (Republicans) doesn’t believe that this nation is built on the principle of political or social equality for all??? It has to be that, I mean Republicans don’t believe most Americans should be covered by Healthcare.
Republicans hiding behind the Texas SBOE continue to show that they do not believe in social equality. While we’re at it why don’t we just replace old Stars and Stripes with the Confederate Flag!
As always….
If there is something to be said, “Its On Broadway” to step up and say it!!!
It's On Broadway 