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In reply to the discussion: America's current situation is just chickens from the '80s coming home to roost [View all]mopinko
(70,078 posts)For decades, a handful of extreme conservative activists have dominated the process that determines what textbooks will be used in Texas schools.
Led historically by local East Texas activists Mel and Norma Gabler and Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, these groups aim to re-shape books that will end up in classrooms across not only Texas but the country -- books they insist should teach more about Christianity and traditional gender roles, cut "unpatriotic" content about slavery and discrimination, and eliminate environmental issues that reflect poorly on the free enterprise system.
These activists have demanded alarming changes to textbooks over the years:
· Censoring a photo of a woman with a briefcase saying goodbye to her child
· Criticizing a text on slavery for "overkill of emphasis on cruelty to slaves"
· Insisting that the African-American family depicted in a section on 'The American Family' be replaced with Anglos.
http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/922
continues today-
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/24/the_revisionaries_texas_schoolbook_battle__crazier_than_you_thought/
ushered in teaching to the test, which was the death of critical thinking in schools.