PrintApril 11, 2010
History and Ideology in Textbooks
Last month, the Texas State Board of Education tentatively approved changes in social studies texts that set off much wailing and gnashing of teeth on the academic and cultural left. Would that changes made by the very same Board of Education back in 1997 elicited similar cries of outrage from the left when several jaw-dropping alterations were made to Texas schoolbooks in order to please liberal constituencies. The complaints back then came mostly from conservatives who saw our national narrative altered in order to appease the multiculturalists. It appears that now that the shoe is on the other foot, a much bigger issue must be made of these ideologically inspired changes in history curriculum. Why this is so speaks more to our culture wars than any attempt to improve the accuracy of textbooks.There is nothing new in complaining about the ideological tilt in the study of American history in our nation's schools. And the debate certainly isn't limited to Texas, as one recent poll...(Read Full Article)
