Somebody Mess with Texas

You've all heard about the ultra-right in Texas lobbying for an ultra-right-wing view of history in their textbooks...sounds like a pretty bad idea, right?  Here's an example of how it affects those of us who want some good to come out of the Japanese American internment, namely greater awareness of our precious civil rights:  Texas would like to puncture that idea with some spurs that jingo, jango, jingo.  (from Angry Asian Man - http://www.angryasianman.com/2010/03/texas-board-of-education-to-rewrite.html

3.17.2010

texas board of education to rewrite japanese internment

Some news from last week that I can't believe is actually happening... In Texas, the Board of Education approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers' commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light: Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change.

The board, whose members are elected, has influence beyond Texas because the state is one of the largest buyers of textbooks. In the digital age, however, that influence has diminished as technological advances have made it possible for publishers to tailor books to individual states.

Among other things, here's the "tailoring" that really got my attention:

Mr. Bradley won approval for an amendment saying students should study "the unintended consequences" of the Great Society legislation, affirmative action and Title IX legislation. He also won approval for an amendment stressing that Germans and Italians as well as Japanese were interned in the United States during World War II, to counter the idea that the internment of Japanese was motivated by racism.

Texas, what is wrong with you? Why do you want to brainwash your kids? Sadly, this clearly illustrates that there are plenty of powerful people out there who would like rewrite the world into place where the wartime incarceration of thousands and thousands of innocent Japanese Americans was justified. This, among many other parts of American history the Board has taken a scalpel to.

I'm sure Michelle Malkin is jumping for joy.