U.S. history textbooks could soon be flavored heavily with Texas conservatism

[Dracil]

U.S. history textbooks could soon be flavored heavily with Texas conservatism - Yahoo! News

- A greater emphasis on “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s.”

- A reduced scope for Latino history and culture.

- Changes in specific terminology. (capitalism to free market, imperialism to expansionism, etc.)

- A more positive portrayal of Cold War anticommunism.

- Language that qualifies the legacy of 1960s liberalism.

- Thomas Jefferson no longer included among writers influencing the nation’s intellectual origins.

- Excision of recent third-party presidential candidates Ralph Nader (from the left) and Ross Perot (from the centrist Reform Party)

- A recommendation to include country and western music among the nation’s important cultural movements. (The popular black genre of hip-hop is being dropped from the same list.)

 

[mont974x4]

Good. The progressives have done enough damage. It is time for accurate text books.

 

[SithDoughnut]

Good. The progressives have done enough damage. It is time for accurate text books.

You're funny.

 

[Schneiderman]

God forbid someone counteract the liberal "flavor" in textbooks already.

 

[Marek]

What's that saying about reality having a liberal bias?

 

[citizenthom]

I vividly remember spending a ton of time in high school U.S. history on "minority" cultural movements and the like and very little on the Founding Fathers or modern history. I remember spending far more time on African and Asian history than Western history in world history, including very little focus on the Enlightenment. And then I remember getting into college history and spending the entire class on the exact same stuff because "they don't teach you about these things in high school." Nearly everything I learned about actual U.S. history and culture, I learned on my own and in a class that focused only on American history from 1760-1800.

If colleges aren't going to teach American tradition at all, then high schools danged well better cut out all the irrelevant rabbit holes and focus on teaching kids our traditions and values. Otherwise they're going to be lost altogether.

And to address one specific point the left seems to be harping on about the changes: the reality is that Thomas Jefferson was not a tremendous influence on the Constitution comparatively-speaking. He was a radical voice much closer to Patrick Henry in influence than James Madison. Students will understand the Constitution much better if they're taught more about The Federalist than about Jefferson's ideology.

 

[fieldy]

It seems silly to exclude hip-hop considering how influential it has been. Whether you like it or not you HAVE to admit it has had a big influence.

 

[citizenthom]

It seems silly to exclude hip-hop considering how influential it has been. Whether you like it or not you HAVE to admit it has had a big influence.

Lots of things have been "influential." Very few things have been so influential that knowing about them is critical to citizenship. I don't get why country music necessarily belongs in a history class myself, but 300 years of cultural influence is certainly more historically important than 30 years' worth.

 

[CaptainNemo1138]

I vividly remember spending a ton of time in high school U.S. history on "minority" cultural movements and the like and very little on the Founding Fathers or modern history. I remember spending far more time on African and Asian history than Western history in world history, including very little focus on the Enlightenment. And then I remember getting into college history and spending the entire class on the exact same stuff because "they don't teach you about these things in high school." Nearly everything I learned about actual U.S. history and culture, I learned on my own and in a class that focused only on American history from 1760-1800.

Africa and Asia were mapping the stars and telling tales of Gods and Heroes long before we Europeans left our huts. It's only natural world history focuses on the history of the world rather then America, an experiment less the three hundred years old.

As for the Founding Fathers, I learned about them in middle school history.

 

[fieldy]

Lots of things have been "influential." Very few things have been so influential that knowing about them is critical to citizenship. I don't get why country music necessarily belongs in a history class myself, but 300 years of cultural influence is certainly more historically important than 30 years' worth.

Are you sure about that though? Look around and look how HUGE hip hop is.

 

[citizenthom]

Africa and Asia were mapping the stars and telling tales of Gods and Heroes long before we Europeans left our huts. It's only natural world history focuses on the history of the world rather then America, an experiment less the three hundred years old.

But an experiment about which our students must be thoroughly educated if we wish them to meaningfully participate in it and uphold its values. In American classrooms, world history should be focused on the civilizations and ideas that most directly contributed to our own. All citizens should have that knowledge; "broader" knowledge can be properly reserved for higher education.

 

[katautumn]

Wait, wait, wait just a minute. Things seem to have changed a bit since I was last in school. From the article:

Terms that the board’s conservative majority felt were ideologically loaded are being retired. Hence, “imperialism” as a characterization of America’s modern rise to world power is giving way to “expansionism,

When did they start labeling America as imperialistic in the text books? No wonder kids graduate hating their country.

eanwhile, the recommendations include an entry listing Confederate General Stonewall Jackson as a role model for effective leadership, and a statement from Confederate President Jefferson Davis accompanying a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

The sheer horrors of it all! Of course, when kids are lied to in history class and taught that the only reason "the South started the Civil War was because they were so evil they couldn't part with their slaves" I would imagine there would be resistance to this concept.

A recommendation to include country and western music among the nation’s important cultural movements. The popular black genre of hip-hop is being dropped from the same list.

What does music have to do with anything? We didn't learn about any genre of music shaping the culture of our nation.

 

[Blackguard_]

What's that saying about reality having a liberal bias?

It's funny you should mention that, since onse of these changes people find so horrible is to talk about the Verona Papers.

Reality has such a liberal bias they want to sweep evidence of communist infiltration under the rug to keep the story of Joe McCarthy as a black and white morality tale.

Good. The progressives have done enough damage. It is time for accurate text books.

Agreed, but i don;t think that will be the case here. I think the bias pendulum is just swinging the other way.

 

[laconicstudent]

When did they start labeling America as imperialistic in the text books? No wonder kids graduate hating their country.

Uhhhh... Since we actually were. You know, there was this slight debacle we had with the Kingdom of Hawaii and all that over some issue with fruit and sugar cane. Somehow it ended up with armed U.S. Marines in the Iolani Palace, a new Constitution that left Queen Liliuokalani a figurehead, somehow Hawaii ended up a state.

And Mexico and Texas. And the Philippines. And Panama. Puerto Rico. Hmmm....

What does music have to do with anything? We didn't learn about any genre of music shaping the culture of our nation.

Well, it does. The point is that it is hysterically funny to argue that Western and Country music has been a bigger influence on North American culture then hip-hop.

 

[Mr. Ripley]

Agreed, but i don;t think that will be the case here. I think the bias pendulum is just swinging the other way.

Yeah. ^^

I mean I have sympathy for conservatives in this regard but their strong response is over the top. The best attitude is not one seeking to overcome liberal bias with conservative bias but providing nonpartisan and non-ideological education.

 

[laconicstudent]

This is the best one

- Thomas Jefferson no longer included among writers influencing the nation’s intellectual origins.

Yeah, it isn't like he wrote the Declaration of Independence or anything. What a joke. Its like something from Conservapedia.

 

[katautumn]

Uhhhh... Since we actually were. You know, there was this slight debacle we had with the Kingdom of Hawaii and all that over the issue. And Mexico and Texas. And the Philippines. And Panama. Puerto Rico. Hmmm.... .

Well that's funny because none of that falls under the category of imperialism. Is America, technically, an Empire? I mean, Britain has an empire, but the United States doesn't. If we want to get really technical, America was a colonialist nation. But the facts really get in the way when we're trying to appeal to emotion and talk about what an evil beast America is. What with all the bailing out we do for other nations, helping them solve their problems when they ask us and whatnot.

 

[Mr. Ripley]

Territorial dispute.. not like that's not an issue for every single country ever. I guess the distinction between the imperialists and non-imperialists is the non-imperialists lost.

 

[laconicstudent]

Well that's funny because none of that falls under the category of imperialism. Is America, technically, an Empire?

Yes, when Americans lead an armed insurrection that has the backing of the United States Armed Forces and depose the legitimate sovereign government, that constitutes imperialism.

Of course you seem to be confusing the term and assuming that we can't be "imperialistic" without having an "Imperial" form of government.

I mean, Britain has an empire, but the United States doesn't. If we want to get really technical, America was a colonialist nation.

Except for the part where our military forced their way into the Iolani Palace and made Queen Liliuokalani surrender her rule at gunpoint, amirite?

But the facts really get in the way when we're trying to appeal to emotion and talk about what an evil beast America is.

In that case, if some, say, Japanese immigrants where you are living break into your State Governor's mansion, hold him at gunpoint and force him to swear fealty to the Imperial Throne of Japan, you won't mind?

What with all the bailing out we do for other nations, helping them solve their problems when they ask us and whatnot.

Yeah, the Kingdom of Hawaii desperately needed our help. They needed it so bad the Marines needed to suit up and "secure" the Iolani Palace.


Please. We were quite imperialistic. Did you think actually think the Hawaiian's joining the United States was voluntary? America has done quite a bit of stuff we can hate, remember Executive Order 9066? Trail of Tears? Bay of Pigs? Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii (a formal ally, btw)? McCarthyism? Sand Creek Massacre? our general treatment of Central and South America over the past two centuries? forcing Emperor Hirohito to mutilate his own religion upon his surrender?

 

[Mr. Ripley]

See what I take issue with is the moral connotations of terms like imperialism. It makes such nasty value judgments. It's no surprise that we're arguing over a word, though. Words are so important these days as far as ideology goes. Can't make a point without using some strong, emotionally charged word to convince people. It's how to win people, you know.