July 1, 2022

How do you put a positive spin on slavery? Easy peasy! Just don't say the s word. Let's just call it something else, shall we? So, if we do that, the s word never really happened (wink wink). Lord, if you live in Texas, get the f*ck out because the Texas State Board of Education is looking into the state's public school social studies curriculum this summer.

Via The Texas Tribune:

A group of Texas educators has proposed to the Texas State Board of Education that slavery should be taught as "involuntary relocation" during second-grade social studies instruction, but board members have asked them to reconsider the phrasing, according to the state board's chair.

So, after book burnings, etc., conservatives now want to redefine slavery as if it was a mere inconvenience. Hey, it was like getting less than minimum wage, according to the right. I might be exaggerating a tad bit, but you get the point.

And why the drastic change? Because they say it will make the kiddos uncomfortable, and we can't have that even though history does that already.

"The board -- with unanimous consent -- directed the work group to revisit that specific language," Keven Ellis, chair of the Texas State Board of Education, said in a statement issued late Thursday.

The working group of nine educators, including a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, is one of many such groups advising the state education board to make curriculum changes. This summer, the board will consider updates to social studies instruction a year after lawmakers passed a law to keep topics that make students "feel discomfort" out of Texas classrooms. The board will have a final vote on the curriculum in November.

OK, so it's the adults that feel uncomfortable, not the students.

Part of the proposed social studies curriculum standards outlines that students should "compare journeys to America, including voluntary Irish immigration and involuntary relocation of African people during colonial times."

Slavery will now get a nice new rosy name, so it's not so bad after all. Whew! I'm just gonna say it. This is highly offensive. It's racist. F*ck Texas in eleventy bazillion different ways. Amen.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon