Texas Textbook Debate - Check Out the Changes

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Among the recommendations facing a final vote: adding language saying the country's Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles and including positive references to the Moral Majority, the National Rifle Association and the GOP’s Contract with America.
Other amendments to the state's curriculum standards for kindergarten through 12th grade would minimize Thomas Jefferson's role in world and U.S. history because he advocated the separation of church and state; require that students learn about "the unintended consequences" of affirmative action; assert that "the right to keep and bear arms" is an important element of a democratic society; and rename the slave trade to the "Atlantic triangular trade.”
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37220562/ns/us_news-life/

I understand these social conservatives have an axe to grind, but talk about overplaying your hand.
 
Alright, I can see their ideological reasons for most of that (bullshit as they may be), but renaming the slave trade?
 
[quote name='SpazX']Alright, I can see their ideological reasons for most of that (bullshit as they may be), but renaming the slave trade?[/QUOTE]

I can slightly understand the idea of this - too many people want to make slavery a "North vs. South" thing - Showing the benefits the North gained from slavery seems like something that should be taught as well.
 
[quote name='UncleBob']I can slightly understand the idea of this - too many people want to make slavery a "North vs. South" thing - Showing the benefits the North gained from slavery seems like something that should be taught as well.[/QUOTE]

How does renaming it do that? And how does it being called a slave trade - or atlantic/transatlantic slave trade probably - make it a "north vs. south" thing?
 
[quote name='JolietJake']Texas is already a joke to a lot of people, we really didn't need more material.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but sometimes you just can't resist a softball over the plate.
 
[quote name='SpazX']How does renaming it do that? And how does it being called a slave trade - or atlantic/transatlantic slave trade probably - make it a "north vs. south" thing?[/QUOTE]

It's the "triangular" part. With a slave trade, you can envision ships going from the southern states to Africa and back. Once you add in "triangular", you're left having to determine what that third leg of the journey was all about.
 
[quote name='UncleBob']It's the "triangular" part. With a slave trade, you can envision ships going from the southern states to Africa and back. Once you add in "triangular", you're left having to determine what that third leg of the journey was all about.[/QUOTE]

But the third leg was Europe (selling crops grown by slaves mostly) - Europe to Africa to America - that was the triangle in that case. There were other triangular trade routes, but they're separate things.

I'd have to see the before and after, but I don't see the initial problem or that being a solution to it.
 
[quote name='SpazX']But the third leg was Europe (selling crops grown by slaves mostly) - Europe to Africa to America - that was the triangle in that case. There were other triangular trade routes, but they're separate things.

I'd have to see the before and after, but I don't see the initial problem or that being a solution to it.[/QUOTE]

I was thinking about the routes that sent the slaves from Africa to the south, crops from the south to the north and supplies from the north (slave trapping supplies, trans-Atlantic travel supplies, etc) to Africa (or to be used on the way there).

Like I said, I *slightly* understand this. I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on in their heads. Just trying to come up with a reason for the insanity. ;)
 
[quote name='UncleBob']I was thinking about the routes that sent the slaves from Africa to the south, crops from the south to the north and supplies from the north (slave trapping supplies, trans-Atlantic travel supplies, etc) to Africa (or to be used on the way there).

Like I said, I *slightly* understand this. I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on in their heads. Just trying to come up with a reason for the insanity. ;)[/QUOTE]

Well I'd certainly like to see a before and after, and hear their reasoning. Is that available?
 
[quote name='SpazX']Well I'd certainly like to see a before and after, and hear their reasoning. Is that available?[/QUOTE]

Some of it is in the article

Texas school board member Dunbar, who home-schools her children and says sending them to local schools would be like “throwing them in the enemy’s flames,” says the changes she backs are all about “fighting for our children's education and our nation's future."
"In Texas we have certain statutory obligations to promote patriotism and to promote the free enterprise system. There seems to have been a move away from a patriotic ideology,” she said in a recent interview with the U.K. Guardian. “There seems to be a denial that this was a nation founded under God. We had to go back and make some corrections."
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37220562/ns/us_news-life/

Most of it however is spearheaded by Texan dentist Don McLeroy. This article profiles him with more then you ever wanted to know (I exerpted a relevant portion below):

Indeed, dentistry is only a job for McLeroy; his real passions are his faith and the state board of education.
...
“I consider myself a Christian fundamentalist,” he announced almost as soon as we sat down. He also identifies himself as a young-earth creationist who believes that the earth was created in six days, as the book of Genesis has it, less than 10,000 years ago. He went on to explain how his Christian perspective both governs his work on the state board and guides him in the current effort to adjust American-history textbooks to highlight the role of Christianity. “Textbooks are mostly the product of the liberal establishment, and they’re written with the idea that our religion and our liberty are in conflict,” he said. “But Christianity has had a deep impact on our system. The men who wrote the Constitution were Christians who knew the Bible. Our idea of individual rights comes from the Bible. The Western development of the free-market system owes a lot to biblical principles.”
For McLeroy, separation of church and state is a myth perpetrated by secular liberals. “There are two basic facts about man,” he said. “He was created in the image of God, and he is fallen. You can’t appreciate the founding of our country without realizing that the founders understood that. For our kids to not know our history, that could kill a society. That’s why to me this is a huge thing.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/magazine/14texbooks-t.html?pagewanted=all
 
It just sounds like the South is tired of sounding like assholes. I don't get the Thomas Jefferson thing though. He was all about states' rights and minimizing the central government. The South loves that crap, always has.
 
They're willing to throw all that out the window because Jefferson also decided he didn't agree with much of the bible. So basically he gets thrown out because he had an independent mind.
 
[quote name='UncleBob']It's the "triangular" part. With a slave trade, you can envision ships going from the southern states to Africa and back. Once you add in "triangular", you're left having to determine what that third leg of the journey was all about.[/QUOTE]

Most of my schooling was in Texas. We didn't need "slave trade" renamed "Atlantic triangular trade" to know there were three legs of the journey. In fact, I specifically remember textbooks showing maps of the trade routes.
 
Um how is Texas a joke to most people? I've lived in Ohio, California, Florida, and Texas, and there are a surprising amount of people that think we all have accents and ride horses to work. WTF is up with that? Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean my guns and tend the stables.
 
[quote name='Cantatus']Most of my schooling was in Texas. We didn't need "slave trade" renamed "Atlantic triangular trade" to know there were three legs of the journey. In fact, I specifically remember textbooks showing maps of the trade routes.[/QUOTE]

By renaming it, it takes the negative stereotype away from it and lessens the true impact of such a horrendous practice.
 
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