Racism Matters

Texas State Board of Education Approved Rewriting History Textbooks

On May 21, the Texas State Board of Education approved several changes to the state’s social studies curriculum.

During negotiations, numerous attempts to add the names or references to important Hispanics throughout history were denied, including one amendment that would had specified that Tejanos died at the Alamo. Another amendment deleted a requirement that sociology students “explain how institutional racism is evident in American society.”

All five minority members of the board opposed the revised standards, citing inadequate coverage of blacks and Hispanics and the promotion of conservative causes. Board member Mavis Knight, D-Dallas, accused some board members – primarily social conservatives – of manipulating the process to insert their own political and religious views. A small victory for the minority Democrats of the board included deleting a portion of an amendment by Republican Don McLeroy suggesting that the civil rights movement led to “unrealistic expectations for equal outcomes.”

The board decided to rename the US slave trade the “Atlantic triangular trade”. Former U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige said the proposed Texas standards “drastically understate the influence of slavery and the Civil Rights movement in our national story – it almost suggests that students will be learning that our liberties – and especially African-Americans’ freedoms – were kind of gently acquired.”

On May 20, the board voted to include the name of President Barack Obama to the history class. In an early draft, the board had declined to include his full name, instead just referring to the election of the first black president. The new curriculum also requires students to evaluate efforts by global organizations such as the United Nations to undermine U.S. sovereignty.

These standards will remain in place for the next decade, dictating what is taught in all Texas schools and providing the basis for future textbooks and achievement tests. These standards often wind up being copied in other states because national publishers tailor their materials to Texas, one of the nation’s biggest textbook publishers.

More articles:
NY Times: Texas Conservatives Win Curriculum Change (March 12)
Huffington Post: ‘Ultraconservatives’ Approve Radical Changes To State Education Curriculum (March 13 - Updated May 13)
Dallas News: State Board of Education (March 13)
USA Today: Texas education standards spark debate on slavery, politics (May 21)