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During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of American politics, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges. This blog is on the open Internet, so post nothing that you would not want a potential employer to see. Syllabus: http://gov20h.blogspot.com/2023/08/draft-introduction-to-american-politics.html

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Texas Textbook Debacle

Hello everyone,

I thought the issue about textbooks in Texas was an interesting debate happening in the news this week that also relates to the creationism vs. evolutionism debate as well as to very basic principles like freedom.. In short the new textbooks proposed for Texas public schools contain a right-wing agenda which blurs the line between church and state, down plays the roles of African Americans and Native Americans, incorrectly portrays the issue of global warming... etc. Here is Washington Post's take on the issues, Politico's and Dallas Morning News's. I'm a little torn on how to feel. I don't think that Texas should use these textbooks, but I certainly understand the arguments about why they should be allowed to- namely I believe parents should be able to teach their children mostly whatever they want. (I might think it's wrong, or a moral hazard, but I think that they have the right to do it) I however think public institutions should be required to teach an objective portrayal of history. Any other opinions?

Reid

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