SectionsTexas conservatives may change history
Gabriel McLaughlin
Issue date: 3/16/10 Section: Opinion
Most days, it's great to call yourself a conservative. Then there are those days where shirking the label consumes your every thought. Last Friday was one of those days.
Down in Austin, Texas, the state's 15-member Board of Education held hearings to finalize the social studies, history and economics curriculum that will be taught in Texas schools for the next decade. Rather than avoid controversy in what should be a rather mundane activity, seven of the Texas Board of Education members, broadly dubbed "conservatives," flooded the curriculum with social conservative ideas.
Changes ran the gambit from "why would you bother to do this" ideas, like replacing the word "role" with "leadership" when describing President Richard Nixon's opening of relations with China, to "what are you thinking" ideas, like removing Thomas Jefferson from the curriculum focusing on the revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The media responded to these actions like lions on a zebra, proudly brandishing to the world every torn piece of flesh labeled "conservative." Headlines blasted out declarations like "Texas Textbook MASSACRE," "Texas Conservatives Rewrite History" and "Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change." The New York Times went as far as to repeat the words "conservative" and "republican" 25 times in their coverage of the story, just in case the reader was confused as to who was mucking up Texas' history books.
But let's be clear, the actions of these seven Texas Board of Education members were in no way sanctioned by everyone who would dare to label themselves a "conservative."
The actions of the Texas Board of Education highlight an ever-present division between social conservatives and the rest. Defending the decision to remove Jefferson from the curriculum, board member Cynthia Dunbar claimed that Jefferson's writings were based upon the writings of other political philosophers already listed in the curriculum standards. Surely this must be the case.
Down in Austin, Texas, the state's 15-member Board of Education held hearings to finalize the social studies, history and economics curriculum that will be taught in Texas schools for the next decade. Rather than avoid controversy in what should be a rather mundane activity, seven of the Texas Board of Education members, broadly dubbed "conservatives," flooded the curriculum with social conservative ideas.
Changes ran the gambit from "why would you bother to do this" ideas, like replacing the word "role" with "leadership" when describing President Richard Nixon's opening of relations with China, to "what are you thinking" ideas, like removing Thomas Jefferson from the curriculum focusing on the revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The media responded to these actions like lions on a zebra, proudly brandishing to the world every torn piece of flesh labeled "conservative." Headlines blasted out declarations like "Texas Textbook MASSACRE," "Texas Conservatives Rewrite History" and "Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change." The New York Times went as far as to repeat the words "conservative" and "republican" 25 times in their coverage of the story, just in case the reader was confused as to who was mucking up Texas' history books.
But let's be clear, the actions of these seven Texas Board of Education members were in no way sanctioned by everyone who would dare to label themselves a "conservative."
The actions of the Texas Board of Education highlight an ever-present division between social conservatives and the rest. Defending the decision to remove Jefferson from the curriculum, board member Cynthia Dunbar claimed that Jefferson's writings were based upon the writings of other political philosophers already listed in the curriculum standards. Surely this must be the case.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Nathanael Bassett
posted 3/17/10 @ 1:28 AM CST
Gabe, I love that you went to great lengths to distance yourself and other conservatives from these actions in Texas, but why not be honest and come out against it? You very clearly drew the line between the Texas Board of Education and others, but you came short of calling them out for this. (Continued…)
Foreign Born Patriot
posted 3/18/10 @ 11:49 PM CST
"Real Americans" are those who help our youngsters growing up to appreciate the true American history not that which is moulded by anti-American activists. (Continued…)
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