Every 10 years the Texas State Board of Education is required by law to update the social studies & history books.  The revisions currently suggested will have a harmful effect on all Texas Students and particularly African American and Latino students not just in Texas. Some of the proposed changes are:

  • Paint the confederacy in a positive way, disavowing the Texas Declaration of Causes which was passed by the people of Texas in order to secede from the Union and fight for the Confederacy, a document which made it clear that Texas was fighting for the Confederacy because it believed in white supremacy
  • Attempts to rewrite the civil rights era
  • Refusal to recognize terroristic acts not related to Islam including the U.S. Calvary against American Indians, the Texas Rangers against Mexican Americans & for decades by the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups right here in our own country
  • No longer calling American a democracy.  It will now be referred to as a Constitutional Republic
  • Refusal to identify Tejano leaders who died at the Alamo, but students will learn about Confederate leaders or Black Texans who were of vital importance in Texas’ fight for independence from Mexico.  The first person who dies for the Texans was Samuel McCullough who was of African-descent, and one of the most legendary leaders of the Texas troops was Hendrick Arnold who is even honored at the Alamo.  Arnold was also of African-descent.
  • While wanting to increase pride of our country they want to ignore or rename anything negative to paint a false picture of our past.  Like no longer calling it American Imperialism, instead it will be referred to as Expansionism.  Capitalism will no longer will be used in the books they think it has a negative connotation.  The words Free Enterprise will now be used
  • Many suggestions made do not have anything to do with history, but political beliefs & ideologies.
  • Refusal to teach that the Texas revolution was started primarily because of the desire to own slaves and the desire not to become Catholic as provided for in the independence document itself.

They voted down an amendment to have students understand why the founding fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring government from promoting or disfavoring any particular religion over all others.

Click on the link below and add your voice of protest. Let the Texas State Board of Education know that you stand against rewriting history.  If you can not make it to the SBOE hearing on May 19th, 2010 at 9:00 am just click on the “What will you say”  Also below you will find the color coordinated proposed changes and testimony given by State President Gary Bledsoe, San Antonio President Marvinette Smith and Legislative Liaison Yannis Banks


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