Recently, the Texas State Board of Education decided to change the curriculum of Texas textbooks. They decided that Texan students needed to learn a more enriching version of history, one not clouded with the liberal agenda, and that the students in Texas needed to learn of their conservative roots. Why do I care? Because it just so happens that Texas happens to be a leading state in the textbook industry. The number of books printed for Texas school districts is enormous, and the number makes textbook companies often cater to those students. As a result, American students get textbooks that were made specifically to cover Texas requirements. Again, who cares? Well let's just look at the changes that will be made in the textbooks that our younger siblings, cousins, nephews, and nieces might be reading in the future, and you can decide if you should care or not. (The title links you to the unbiased story, the rest of this post will be my take on this event.)
1) A Reduced Scope of Latino Influence- So Texas, one of the states on the higher end of illegal immigration, decides to try and eradicate the influence of the Hispanic population from their textbooks. They are literally trying to erase Hispanic culture from the history books.
2) A Positive Portrayal of Cold War Era Anticommunism- When I saw this, I read "Let's celebrate McCarthy as an American hero, and forget all the innocent people he had arrested and prosecuted!" That's dumb. There wasn't much positive about the witch hunt that went on in the sixties in the name of capitalism, and I would appreciate it if textbooks showed the truth.
3) A Recommendation to Recognize Country Music As a Great Cultural Movement- I have no problem with this, country music is a great cultural movement. But wait a second...Hip-hop was removed from the same list as a part of the bill. Well that is just some bull. What makes the country music surge more of a cultural movement than hip-hop? Especially when the rise of hip-hop represents the rise of African-American culture after years of subjugation? Hmm.....maybe race has something to do with it? Nah, I'm not touching that one.
Anyway, there are more effects of the ruling, so click on the link, read it, and weigh in on this post via the comments.
3.16.2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
The link is the title, in case you didn't know.
ReplyDeleteand when hip hop is far more influential in terms of American culture than country is or ever has been
ReplyDeletei heard about the removal of hip hop from consideration as a cultural movement, and that is some serious bullshit. Hip-Hop is representative of the culture of an entire race and even extends beyond that into American culture as a whole, while country music is representative of...what,exactly? I have no issues with country music as a genre, but to consider it a cultural movement and then cast hip-hop aside is astonishingly ignorant.
ReplyDeleteSpecifics would be greatly beneficial to the holistic weight of what you are trying to convey.
ReplyDeleteI read that online today and my first thought was "What the hell".
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Texas has alot of Hispanics living in their state due to their close proximity with Central America. Why should they decide to cut out on such a big part of their and American History?
Secondly, Country Music maybe, yes, popular however I have not met one person who is a big fan. I believe they are only promoting it because Texas is considered the number one capital of Country Music. Hip-Hop is much more popluar and dominates more radio stations and most likely going to overshadow many other genres in the decades to come.
And last of all, the witch hunt in America during the sixties should not be something to be glossed over. No country has a spotless past, however one has to learn from their mistakes to keep progressing. We are on a witch hunt already for Muslim people because of radicals whom are a tiny minority in the entire Islamic faith community. Must I remind anyone that Muslims state anyone who murders others is not Muslim?
*Nashville is undebatably the "number one capital of country music."
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 1 & 2: I completely agree with you, hip-hop is more relevant than ever now. Hip-Hop affects every fiber of America, television commercials have hip-hop beats in the background, and ignoring it's cultural relevance is foolish. Comparing country music to hip-hop in terms of cultural importance today shouldn't even be an issue.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 3: Everything you said, I agree with. Although all of the changes are disturbing, the glossing over of the Red Scare is seriously scary. How can we pretend that everything was perfect in the sixties? Since when did America become the land of hidden pasts and propoganda?
I thought your blog would be vague; about girls, rap music and....girls. Your blog is introspective and raising awareness about a variety of topics. It's great. I'm enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteThe problem of illegal immigration and the steady influx of Hispanics in America has been a topic of dipute relatively for the past 20 years. So as a result their culture has only had a recent impact on American history. In the broad scope of American history their culture has little to no relevance on the major events that took place. However, this doesn't mean that a reference to them should be entirely taken out. Generally speaking Texas is a Republican leaning state with conservative beliefs, and most likely those on the state board want it to stay that way. Maybe it was their way of fighting back against the far left views of the media and the liberal spin high end schools put on their curriculum. A textbook can only go so far in teaching. Ultimately it is up to the teachers and the curriculum they provide to give students an unbiased education.
ReplyDeleteGranted, illegal immigration is a relatively new problem in the US, but how can a state like Texas try to deny its Hispanic culture? After all, it WAS part of Mexico (something that needs to be noted). And I disagree with the statement that it has little relevance. THE LAND WAS IN MEXICO. Hispanic culture has been a part of Texas since the inception of Texas itself. It's just as relevant as country music culturally. (I'm working on my dry humor, if you didn't catch it in the last sentence.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, obviously Texas is a conservative state, but attempting to rewrite history as one sees fit is no way to make sure one's Republican beliefs stay intact. As for the textbook comment, it's obvious that you go to private school. Go to a public school where your history class has 30 kids in it, and try to tell the kids that their textbook is wrong and what you're saying is right. They already doubt the system enough; I'm sure conflicting messages will help the problem.
My previous comment was based on the assumption that the textbooks were US history books. The article said they [Texas] spell out the requirements for 80% of the nation's textbook market. So tell me why it's important for kids in Oregon and Vermont to be educated on the influence Hispanic culture has had in Texas? This nation was founded upon European customs and Judeo-Christian beliefs, not the cultures of Spanish speaking countries. So once again, at this moment in time, Hispanic culture has had little influence on AMERICAN history. I actually attended public school the majority of my life, and my 9th history teacher actually challenged what was in the textbook. She provided supplemental readings and primary source documents along with chapters from the textbook to give us an education from different perspectives. That is how it should be done if one wants to be unbiased; however, in this day in age I'm skeptical if such an education truly exists because everyone has some sort of agenda they try to press upon others.
ReplyDeleteI apologize for attempting to know your past, that was foolish of me. Anyway, my point was that Texas has had a lot of its culture influenced by Hispanic culture, and American culture is now starting to be influenced by it as well. So why would now be the time to reduce the scope of Hispanic culture in historic books? And why would Texas, a state that is highly influenced by Hispanic culture, be the state to make these rulings?
ReplyDeleteAs for the teaching comment, I don't know what to say. If you think that every teacher in the US is your 9th grade history teacher or Erin Gruwell, then I got nothing. If you think every teacher in the US is some cynical propaganda pusher, then I got nothing. What I am saying is that these rulings do nothing to help enrich the educational experience of Americans. What they do is help to push the pendulum of education to the right. If all conservatives try to do is make sure liberals voices aren't heard, and all liberals try to do is make sure conservative voices aren't heard, what the hell kind of progress are we making to better America?
it pisses me off theyre taking credit from jefferson
ReplyDelete