Texas Senate Bill Drops Teaching Requirement That Ku Klux Klan Is 'Morally Wrong'

[LymphocyteLover]

Source: Huffington Post

In a new political low in Texas, the Republican-dominated state Senate has passed a bill to eliminate a requirement that public schools teach that the Ku Klux Klan and its white supremacist campaign of terror are “morally wrong.”

The cut is among some two dozen curriculum requirements dropped from the new measure, along with studying Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the works of United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez, Susan B. Anthony’s writings about the women’s suffragist movement, and Native American history.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-senate-education-bill-white-supremacy_n_60f50cf6e4b01f11895b2dc3

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Blatant racism from these Republicans

[twodogsbarking]

1. So two world wars and a civil war were not enough.

Obviously.

[mpcamb]

18. Tough pill to swallow for them... that lynching and murder are reprehensible.

[Phoenix61]

2. This could have far reaching effects. Texas buys a

ton of school books so their curriculum choices have an over sized impact.

[Lonestarblue]

5. The three states with the most impact on textbook sales are Texas, California, and Florida.

Texas and Florida are right-wing conservative states ruled by Christian nationalists who favor teaching white fairy tales instead of history, Biblical beliefs instead of science, and free market capitalism with no regulations. Both have worked for years to maintain control over local school boards and over state boards of education that develop the curriculum requirements for what will be taught and tested at every grade level. Both are guaranteeing future generations who have very little understanding of how the world works and who will turn into their undereducated, uncritical, unthinking voters. Mission accomplished.

[LymphocyteLover]

11. Indeed-- it's very scary.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

3. The true meaning of whitewashing? n/t

[PatSeg]

4. They don't even pretend anymore

that they aren't racist. Everything is in-your-face all the time now.

[Ford_Prefect]

8. To be fair they are whiter than white, aren't they?

Clearly genuine history is not a concern when you own the state who edits it.

[PatSeg]

22. That is true

and of course, everyone knows they have "superior jeans".

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Texan Republican Cancel Culture Targets the Teachings of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Link to tweet

[Igel]

15. Here's what's currently taught (or at least a part of it).

(9) History. The student understands the impact of the American civil rights movement. The student is expected to:
(A) trace the historical development of the civil rights movement from the late 1800s through the 21st century, including the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th amendments;
(B) explain how Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan created obstacles to civil rights for minorities such as the suppression of voting;
(C) describe the roles of political organizations that promoted African American, Chicano, American Indian, and women's civil rights;
(D) identify the roles of significant leaders who supported various rights movements, including Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Rosa Parks, and Betty Friedan;
(E) compare and contrast the approach taken by the Black Panthers with the nonviolent approach of Martin Luther King Jr.;
(F) discuss the impact of the writings of Martin Luther King Jr. such as his "I Have a Dream" speech and "Letter from Birmingham Jail" on the civil rights movement;
(G) describe presidential actions and congressional votes to address minority rights in the United States, including desegregation of the armed forces, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
(H) explain how George Wallace, Orval Faubus, and the Congressional bloc of southern Democrats sought to maintain the status quo;
Cont'd...

The "dropping" removed some of the language from a previous bill that required the Board of Education to incorporate a list of topics/places/events/people/writings in the standards. Removing that list (or most of it) didn't remove the topics from the standards, it removed the topics from the legislation that would require that those topics be added. Note that many of those things are already in the standards, some explicitly and some just required to teach the topic. For example, "NAACP" isn't in the standards ... except that it's a key "political organization that promoted African American ... civil rights." So with the KKK--teaching that it's immoral would be basically teaching that it pushed for Jim Crow enforcement and voter rights suppression. Just saying, "The KKK was bad, but we're not going to talk about what it did" makes little sense. And yet already "explain how Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan created obstacles to civil rights for minorities such as the suppression of voting" is in the current standards--with no legislation, enacted or proposed, saying to remove it.

A technical note: When the Texas standards say "including" each of the names or events to be included *must* be taught, but it's not an exhaustive list; "such as" gives examples of what may be taught (but again, not exhaustive).

[Jay25]

7. What's next, wives are their husbands property?

Next thing you know, they will create a history whereas whites were the ones enslaved and they will receive reparations. These bastards are all so close to a point of no return.

[Initech]

9. Racist fucks!!!

[czarjak]

10. I have pictures of my Klan heritage. Not proud of it, but it is what it is.

[NurseJackie]

12. Texas is the new Kansas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church

[Evolve Dammit]

13. Full-on Revisionist history is in full swing. GOP are domestic terrorists at this point.

[onetexan]

14. Spot on!! K&R

[DemocraticPatriot]

16. Blue states need to add a teaching requirement, that the GOP

is morally bankrupt.

[LymphocyteLover]

17. LOL! Please!

[CRK7376]

19. What's a texbook????

My NC highschool American History classroom has one set of 35-36 textbooks that were new in 2008....Needless to say I don't use the textbook very often.... other sources, copies of primary documents, plus lots of internet time for me and my students.....

[DemocraticPatriot]

20. That makes you a great teacher!

My best friend was a history teacher for many years (now he helps design curriculum for a college).

He used to teach history/social studies through exercises... For instance, divide the class into groups, tell them they are their own new country, and they must write a constitution for their new country... Stuff like that, which would make the students have to really think, and debate, rather than just plain memorization of historical facts and text reading alone...

I wish I could have attended some of his classes, lol, but he lived too far away.

[LymphocyteLover]

21. good point-- textbooks are probably outdated but curriculum standards are still used?