Back in March 28^th, 2010, we published a piece, “The Rewriting of American History” (http://miestilomag.com/the-rewriting-of-american-history/), regarding the Texas State Board of Education’s proposed changes to their curriculum.  As of Friday (5/21/10), the BOE, in a 9-5 vote, approved changes that would place more emphasis on conservative groups, events, etc.

According to the Christian Science Monitor article, “In Texas, social studies textbooks get a conservative make-over” (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/0522/In-Texas-social-studies-textbooks-get-a-conservative-make-over), the vote was pretty much split along party lines.  Some of the changes that would occur, for example, would include bringing more attention to President Reagan, while hardly mentioning Senator Ted Kennedy.  Also, Senator Joseph McCarthy would be depicted in a positive light, despite the fact that his 1950s witch hunt to root out Communists was largely inefficient and was primarily a grab for power.

What bothers me about this event is that I feel that the board members are letting their personal views get in the way of finding the best possible curriculum to provide Texas children with a balanced education.  According to the CSM article, Friday’s meeting in Austin by education board member Cynthia Dunbar made “in the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ … [on behalf of] “a Christian land governed by Christian principles.”  If Dunbar thinks that religious freedom in the United States had to do just with God, then I feel that she’s sadly missing the point.

When our Founding Fathers guaranteed us that our government should not establish a state religion, this didn’t have to explicitly do with God but with each citizen’s right to follow the religious beliefs of their choosing.  In the Declaration of Independence, God is mentioned only once.  Our country wasn’t necessarily intended to be a Christian nation but a free one.

While there’s nothing that can be done to undo this, I feel that the people on the Board of Education that have more conservative views see the curriculum as an all or nothing deal.  Either the curriculum can be liberal or conservative.  If they really wanted a balanced curriculum, they would have given equal attention to Senator Kennedy as they would President Reagan.  I think that the BOE needs to call a spade a spade.  Their changes aren’t about balance but about furthering their own, personal conservative agenda.

What worries me is that, since the Texas State BOE is one of the US’ biggest textbook markets and will effectively dictate what is used by other school districts, figures and events will not be mentioned because of their extreme emphasis on conservatism.  This didn’t have to be an all or nothing proposition.  They made it one.  It is up to us to remember.

Author: José A. Rodríguez