Marxists believe that he who controls the past controls the future. It’s hard not to see that philosophy at work in the actions of various state boards of education around the country.
Nevertheless, whether by accident or design, students who have not been taught, for example, the Constitution, will find it difficult to label anything unconstitutional. When my stepson was in high school, he was assigned the task of writing his own constitution. I suggested that he cut and paste the original to see if the teacher would notice. He demurred, thinking that his teacher wouldn’t like the text. He was probably right.
Currently, the Texas State Board of Education (TSBOE) is engaged in such a remodeling job. “TSBOE will soon finalize the language that textbook publishers use to align their textbooks to current standards,” the Liberty Counsel (LC) reports. “As Texas is a leader in textbooks, most other states purchase the same educational materials.”
As the two largest states, Texas and California to a large degree determine what texts will be available nationwide. In the lone star state, according to LC, “Some of the suggestions that have come forward at various times include:
- “Removing references to Daniel Boone, General George Patton, Nathan Hale, Columbus Day, and Christmas;
- “Including the cultural impact of hip hop music, ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow, and the Hindu holiday of Diwali;
- “Replacing the term ‘American” with “Global Citizen’—stating that students need to be shaped ‘for responsible citizenship in a global society’ without any mention of citizenship in American society”; and
- “Replacing expansionism and free enterprise with imperialism and capitalism.”
“James Madison warned us that when error is allowed to become steeped in precedent it leads to tyranny,” Cynthia Dunbar, an elected member of the TSBOE and Assistant Professor at Liberty University School of Law, stated. “If an erroneous view of our American heritage is allowed to stand, that view will be even more entrenched when we revisit this issue again in 10 years.”
“Since the board consists of only 15 members, the decision of eight individuals may determine what goes into textbooks on a national level; it is crucial that the voices of patriotic Americans be heard.”
The LC is based at Liberty University. The LC informs us that in Texas “The Board’s next meeting is in March and the final reading and adoption of the social studies guidelines will be in May.”
Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.
