I’m a big states-rights fan. Little democratic laboratories where the will of the people can be heard. Fortunately, we have a federal system that can step in to fix massacres like this.
The Texas Board of Education has removed the following from Texas school books and could impact a decade of Texas public school children.
- References to Thomas Jefferson have been removed.
- There is no church/state separation.
- The U.S. is now a “constitutional republic”, not “democratic”.
- Hip-Hop is not an official cultural movement (can’t say I disagree with this. I can get behind early stuff like Run D.M.C. and the like.)
- Texas will no longer teach students that religions are protected under the U.S. constitution and can’t be “favored”.
- McCarthyism is protected and favored.
- Texas will teach students the emergence of the Republican platform in the 80’s and 90’s.
- No more sociological discussion of “transsexuals and who knows what else”.
- “Capitalism” is now the “Free Enterprise System”.
- The late Sen. Edward Kennedy and Justice Sotomayor have no coverage in Texas textbooks. Reagan ranks pretty high up, though.
- In an odd move considering Texas’ location, no Hispanics died at the Alamo.
I suspect this will get overturned very, very quickly. I’m sure the ACLU is descending on Texas in swarms not seen since the days of the carrier pigeon.