Get Rid of Gays in Texas Education! (Austin, Impact: buy, schools) - (TX) - City-Data Forum

nickasarbata · 03-28-2010, 12:13 AM

Hey guys! I was just sent a link to an extremely disturbing article, and I wanted to share it with you guys and see what you think about it.

Writing the Gays out of Texas Textbooks

It looks like the ultra-conservative Texas Board of Education is hoping to edit "homosexuals" out of school textbooks. Historic figures such as Harvey Milk will no longer be included in school curriculum, simply because they're gay.

I had heard that the Texas BoE was ultra-Christian and ultra-conservative, and I've heard that teaching evolution is not allowed in Texas (also extremely disturbing, not because it is a fact, but because it is an extremely important theory that our children need to know about!!). I just wonder what you Austinites feel about all of this. I know Austin is so much more liberal than the rest of Texas, but these statewide decisions must be being made in the state capital... how can these things be happening in Austin?

Thoughts?

brubaker · 03-28-2010, 12:45 AM

If it's the will of the people how can you stop it?
Textbooks are supposed to represent community values, right?

Etc.
Expect this kind of argument.^^^

Personally I think it's stupid and backwards and dangerous but I can't even say I'm surprised at this point... I really can't.

I heard the textbooks in Texas can also influence the textbooks NATIONWIDE.
Yey?
Texas Textbook Wars Could Impact Schools Nationwide (http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/education/tx_textbook_wars_030910 - broken link)

nickasarbata · 03-28-2010, 02:12 AM

brubaker--

Thanks for your response, but UGH NO!!! Textbooks are NOT supposed to represent community value! They're supposed to present everyone with facts and truths, regardless of individual opinion of those facts. Imagine taking the wealth of knowledge available here in the U.S. to some small village in a third world country where the inhabitants have virtually no formal education. What we have to tell them would blow their minds. What they do with the knowledge is up to them (and we can either reject or accept their choices). But they have the right to be provided with all of the facts before they make their decision. And I think there is also a moral responsibility to present them with complete information, even if that information is in conflict with their own personal beliefs. They need to hear all sides of the argument before they are able to decide for themselves.

The idea that people in Texas might just feel that they "aren't surprised" by the decisions of the Board of Education and therefore decide not to do anything to object or protest is really scary. That's my point. Is this how most people in Austin feel? It affects them and their children too, not just the people who live in other parts of Texas.

Or is Austin just not ready to accept us gays as equally important members of society?

intmd8r · 03-28-2010, 05:50 AM

The thing is, textbooks have ALWAYS been skewed, purposefully. It's not something I thought about until I was out of school, but history is really dependent on where you live, not what actually happened.

My hubby has an interesting story about someone from another country who was taught something in school that is COMPLETELY contrary to what we're taught here in America.

Who knows which one is actually right?

mickey65 · 03-28-2010, 06:48 AM

The parents will just have to realize that "we" are everywhere and they will not be able to shield their children from us forever....muhahahaha!

Unclemeat · 03-28-2010, 07:32 AM

We already did it with the blacks, the communist witch-hunts and the Japanese internment camps...

I guess the more people you have to write out of the books (especially as people dig up documents outing historical figures), the more textbooks you can sell. Good way to subsidize the printing/publishing industry.

BTW - that was sarcasm...

XLadylawX · 03-28-2010, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickasarbata

It looks like the ultra-conservative Texas Board of Education is hoping to edit "homosexuals" out of school textbooks. Historic figures such as Harvey Milk will no longer be included in school curriculum, simply because they're gay.

Frankly, I don't consider the late Harvey Milk to be a significant historical figure so I would omit him anyway. Being played by Sean Penn simply does not qualify a person for significance. I don't think anyone should be included or omitted based upon their sexual preference but they should be included if they have contributed or took part in something of historical significance. (Alexander the Great for example) Perhaps if Mr. Milk had not been tragically murdered, he would have eventually reached that status.

In any case, anyone who leaves the education of their children solely to to any school, be it public or private, is a fool.

passionatearts · 03-28-2010, 08:44 AM

This is awesome! I love how because so many other states buy their textbooks from Texas, the censorship will have an impact on those states as well. We should definitely continue to spread ignorance around. Maybe at the rate we're going at with this censorship and re-writing of history, we could join the ranks of such prestigious countries as Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, and North Korea!

HappyTexan · 03-28-2010, 08:48 AM

K-12 education has been whitewashed by whatever party is in power. When the next party gets in power they change it all over again. It's probably at the point that what we learn may not even be what happened.

Heck..they even to try to change math but in the end 2+2=4 no matter how hard they try to change it.

For me, college is where you really learn.

Here's a tidbit regarding the Civil War...K-12 history tells us it was about freeing the slaves. It was really much more than that, much more and not the primary reason. This is stuff you DO NOT learn in K-12.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ellison

passionatearts · 03-28-2010, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XLadylawX

Frankly, I don't consider the late Harvey Milk to be a significant historical figure so I would omit him anyway. Being played by Sean Penn simply does not qualify a person for significance. I don't think anyone should be included or omitted based upon their sexual preference but they should be included if they have contributed or took part in something of historical significance. (Alexander the Great for example) Perhaps if Mr. Milk had not been tragically murdered, he would have eventually reached that status.

Are you kidding me? Harvey Milk had a very important impact on politics and the gay rights movement. If Rosa Parks belongs in the textbooks (which she most certainly does) for her impact on the civil rights movement, then so does Harvey Milk for his impact on gay rights.