Texas' Contested History: The Politics of Curriculum Policy

By Lashawnda Brooks

"Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results."  - Machiavelli

On Page 126, a McGraw-Hill textbook referred to Africans brought to plantations between 1500 – 1800s as “workers” rather than slaves. The textbook supplier considered this an error, but others saw it as something more– an example of misinformation facilitated through a lack of diversity in textbook curriculum writing, and a lack of diversity in school boards selection in Texas.

To some – these errors may seem trivial, but even this week Kanye West claimed, “ when you hear about slavery for 400 years — for 400 years? That sounds like a choice,”.

This lack of historical understanding regarding a large scale historical genocide isn’t limited to the slave trade – it also applies to the Holocaust.  

Two-thirds of American millennials cannot identify what Auschwitz is. Two- thirds. According to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany done in concert with Holocaust Remembrance Day also found that twenty-two percent of millennials did not know what the Holocaust even was. If we are charged to resist the current administration, how does one do that when we don’t even know our history?

In Texas, the fight over history is real and is happening in our school boards. Republicans have stacked school boards with creationist and others who have fought over standards, and the content taught in our schools. As Texas is the largest buyer of textbooks, the policies they set affect textbooks all across the country. The result? History isn’t solely factual, the telling of particular histories implicitly affect the abilities of our society to resist oppression. 

In 2010, the Texas Board of Education approved a conservative history and economics textbook that emphasized Republican political victories. In April 2018, a Texas charter school teacher was disciplined after distributing an assignment that asked students to list the positive benefits of slavery. After a viral posting, the school investigated the issue and removed the Pearson textbook from classrooms. While Pearson says they did not influence the teachers assignment, in 2017 Pearson apologized for racial insensitivities in Nursing: A Concept-Based Approach to Learning had highlights such as “Jews may be vocal and demanding of assistance”, and “Hispanics may believe that pain is a form of punishment and that suffering must be endured if they are to enter heaven". These beliefs, when validated in textbooks, have real effects on coalition building and the dismantling of oppression.

Currently, after a long fight over a Mexican – American studies course, the Texas School Board approved the course but disagreed over the name and textbook. The Republican-dominated school board moved the name away from Mexican American studies to “Ethnic Studies: An Overview of Americans of Mexican Descent”. One representative went as far to say – “I find hyphenated Americanism to be divisive”. Does this mean that the learning of facts must be divisive as well? 

Some believe that critiques on Texas School Board formation and political agency undermine the true benefits of democracy. They would argue that all education is political, and at least this process allows for a local perspective. Unfortunately, this is not the way that school boards are currently operating. Many school board members are supported by outside lobbying organizations, and a larger percentage are becoming mayor appointed. Further, Texas School Boards discourage localism as these textbooks are distributed to school districts throughout the country. Imagine if the Philadelphia Free Black schools generated content that would be distributed to all history classroom?

In the current world of fake news, conspiracies, and witch hunts it is important now, more than ever, that students are able to discern fiction from fact. Their ability to that depends on making sure the grown-ups in the room are able to do the same.