Jamestown failed because it was a socialist settlement. Franklin D. Roosevelt caused the Great Depression. Thomas Aquinas was more influential than Thomas Jefferson. Joe McCarthy was a hero. This is not a delayed April Fool’s joke: It is the new curriculum imposed by the Texas State Board of Education, and it is rewriting history as we know it. If you’re not a white, Christian conservative, you may have something to say about it.
Earlier this month, the Texas State Board of Education voted 10-5 to change the current social studies curriculum of Texas schools. If confirmed in the final vote this May, the curriculum will be the standard for the next decade and dictate the content of future textbooks. The changes cover everything from civil rights to music, religion to politics to economics, and while it is undeniable that our idea of history changes as new discoveries are made, these changes fly in the face of decades of historical teaching.
One of the most significant changes to be implemented is that Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, will no longer be considered a revolutionary thinker. His ideals will cease to be associated with the Enlightenment, and the Christian-friendly teachings of the St. Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin will go in his stead. His idea of separation of church and state will be completely struck from record, and along with it any idea of religious freedom. Although he will still be mentioned elsewhere, critics are convinced that Jefferson’s deist leanings are what caused him to be demoted as a historical figure. The fact that he wrote the Declaration of Independence seems to bear no weight to the ultra-conservative board. Ironically, despite the fact that Jefferson was influential in the drafting of the Constitution, the United States government is now being described as a constitutional republic instead of democratic simply to avoid the word democrat. You cannot beat this logic.
Other changes to the curriculum include the addition of country music to the list of cultural movements in the U.S. and the refusal to add hip-hop, the removal of Tejanos as heroes of the Alamo alongside Davy Crockett, and the addition of sections on the National Rifle Association, The Heritage Foundation and Phyllis Schlafly. The board attempted to remove the activist and labor leader Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall, the first black Supreme Court Justice from American history as well, but were forced to back down. This, however, is not a comprehensive list of changes — the board made over 100 amendments to the curriculum suggested by teachers.
Tragically, the worst part is not even the gross misrepresentation of history. It is the fact that 10 Texans with no historical knowledge or expertise have managed to rewrite the history of the United States for the next generation of children. Due to the number of students in Texas, publishers write textbooks to meet the state’s standards and sell them nationwide. This means if the curriculum is finalized, a huge percentage of American schoolchildren will learn that Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln were equally significant, have no idea that “free enterprise” really means capitalism, and think the country was founded on Christianity. Essentially, they’ll be screwed.
When writing the amendments, the board declined to hire any historians, economists, sociologists or teachers, preferring instead their own credentials. The Republicans on the board include Barbara Cargill, a science educator who claimed “sociology tends to blame society for everything,” Gail Lowe, a newspaper publisher who was elected “Conservative of the Year” by the Lampasas County Conservative Club, David Bradley, a real estate agent who said he “reject[s] the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” Terri Leo, a case manager, quoted saying “capitalism does have a negative connotation, you know, ‘capitalist pig!'” in defense of renaming the term free enterprise, Cynthia Dunbar, a lawyer who was personally responsible for cutting Thomas Jefferson from the Enlightenment, and Dr. Don McLeroy, a dentist who claims the board “is adding balance” with the new curriculum, because “history has already been skewed.” These are the people teaching America’s future. We should all be afraid. Very afraid.
Combating a liberal bias is one thing. Rewriting history while ignoring facts to serve political and religious ends is something else entirely. With absolutely no respect for accuracy, these 10 people have made a mockery not only of the history of this country, but the future as well. A school’s job is to teach children facts, and the Texas State Board of Education has crippled the nation’s youth by inundating them with propaganda. If severe action is not taken to fight these changes, the next decade of children will be taught based on McLeroy’s notion that “somebody’s got to stand up to the experts.” We must fight to save the county’s children and its dignity. Let us hope we are not too late.
Allegra Dimperio ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in theatre and intending to major in journalism.
