This cartoon just makes me want to knock my head on a wall.
Cartoon by Mikhaela B. Reid, published in the Librarian And Information Science News.
If you’re having trouble understanding it, the cartoon is a reference to the Texas textbook controversy. Basically, Texas has mandated that their textbooks include an alarming level of Conservative Christian propaganda. Among the mandated changes:
- Teaching about “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s.” This will include complimentary refrences to right-wing hack Phylis Schafly, Falwell’s now-defunct Moral Majority and Newt freakin’ Gingrich, among others.
- Reducing Latino influence by removing or de-emphasizing references to Latino history and culture. Along the same lines, they are removing Hip-Hop music from social studies curriculum, and replacing it with Country Western music.
- De-emphasizing Thomas Jefferson’s contributions to the nation’s political and legal history, and placing greater emphasis on the more puritanical of the founding fathers. Christian icons like St. Aquinas and Thomas Calvin would also receive increased mention.
Oddly enough, the biggest problem here isn’t just the indoctrination of children in Texas. As it turns out, Texas purchases so many of the textbooks produced in the United States that this conservative revisionism may well be infecting your local public school next fall, as dozens of publishers change textbooks to compete for the Texas dole.
Welcome to the Theocratic Republic of Texas.