This is the most ridiculous thing we’ve seen in national education conversations. Texas educators submitted a proposal for the State Board of Education that suggested teachers teach “involuntary displacement” of slaves in social studies classes in second grade. Although the suggestion was rejected by the Board, it is still a ridiculous one. The fact that the proposal was recommended shows the absurdity of the entire discussion.
The group of nine educators includes a Professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is among many groups that advise the state education board on making curriculum changes requests. The board will be reviewing updates to social science instruction this summer, one year after Texas lawmakers adopted a law that prohibits topics from being taught in Texas schools.
Before we get into the details of the report, let’s be clear: Texas law does more than make students feel uncomfortable about the teaching of America’s history. This law is meant to ensure that students aren’t influenced by teachers about skin color. But it’s The Texas Tribune , and they have left that out.
The suggestion was met with predictable criticism. Aicha, a Democrat Board Member, criticized the argument by pointing out how describing slavery this way was not a fair representation of the institution.
” I can’t speak for them, but it’s unacceptable,” she said to The Texas Tribune Thursday.
The draft proposal stated that the lessons about slavery must “compare travels to America including voluntary Irish immigration, and involuntary relocations of African people during colonial time .”
The Lone Star State currently develops a curriculum for social studies. The overhaul takes place approximately every ten years in order to keep the public schools current with new material. This development comes amid a heated debate over leftist ideology related to race, gender, and sexuality being infused in K-12 classrooms.
Several states have adopted legislation to prohibit teachers from teaching lessons inappropriate for children under the age of 6. These laws have been resisted by progressives who claim they are motivated in bigotry, and an attempt to erase America’s past on racial issues.
Newsmax reported that the state’s education board rejected the working draft and sent it back for revision. The group asked that K-2 examine carefully the terminology used to describe events.
This controversy has not been the first time that Texas schools have come under fire for their slavery-related teachings. Newsmax noted also that Texas schools have been the subject of controversy in 2015 since a textbook calling slaves was found by the state.
Proposed only to play into progressives’ hands, claiming that criticism of critical race theory and opposition to it is nothing but an attempt to gloss over the dark parts of American history. It would also have been a way of downplaying an evil the country has worked so hard to eradicate if it was adopted. It not only reduces the seriousness of the practice but also diminishes the effort of many millions of Americans in abolishing the institution.
Most people agree that schools should be better at teaching history. To undermine our national pride, the far-left focuses only on America’s faults. It is inappropriate to minimize the negative aspects of our nation’s past, but rather to share all about it.
