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____/ An Old Friend on Saturday 02 Jul 2011 01:28 : \____
> On Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:30:01 +0100, Homer chiseled
> 9bn1e8-5da.ln1@xxxxxxxxxx in stone using Trajan:
>
>> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
>>
>>> History is not about "beliefs" but about observations and analysis of
>>> written records from the time; and for school children those books are
>>> obligatory, they are not like choosing a newspaper.
>>
>> From what I've read of this dÃbÃcle, they're not /changing the facts/ in
>> their textbooks, but merely changing the way those facts are presented.
>> 1 + 1 will still equal 2, and Abraham Lincoln will still be the 16th
>> President of the United States, but the tone of the textbooks will be
>> altered to be more sympathetic with their beliefs. I don't sympathise
>> with those beliefs, but equally I respect their right to have them. It's
>> none of my business, I'm sure.
>>
>
> I have a South Carolina history textbook that was the approved textbook
> for high schools in the early to mid 1960s.
>
> In that textbook, the U.S. Civil War was called "The War of Northern
> Aggression" and it included at least one major section of a chapter
> devoted to showcasing scientific explanations for why "colored" people
> were now (and always would be) genetically inferior to "white" people, and
> why the "noble institution" of slavery was actually good for blacks and
> the United States. It stressed the "state's rights" aspect of slavery that
> was undermined by evil Northern US businesses that benefited from the
> downfall of the Southern US economic interests.
>
> It puts the blame for Southern economic hardship squarely on the North for
> increasing the cost of labor, and removing standards of protocol between
> individuals of differing skin color that caused tremendous instability and
> required additional funding for public safety.
>
> The textbook discusses the Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson as a
> compromise intended to placate the unrightly freed slaves, and would help
> ease the transition back to their rightful place in society when the
> blatantly-rigged and unconstitutional decision of Brown v. Board of
> Education would be overturned.
>
> More than a few pages were spent discussing how a future secession from
> the U.S. might look like and how it would be better economically for the
> Southern states. It used historical data showing how the Southern states
> were the more wealthy states in the early part of American history (thanks
> to cotton and tobacco agriculture), and how returning to the same economic
> foundation would benefit a Confederate nation.
>
> when it comes to historical data, what is considered "factual" differs
> widely depending on the interpretation and beliefs of the authors and
> editors.
>
> Look at the differences in historical interpretations between the 1911
> Encyclopaedia Brittanica (then considered one of the most accurate and
> factual resources ever created) and current versions.
>
> The point is that changing the language of the textbook so it matches the
> "tone" of someone's beliefs may actually change how factual the
> information really is.
>
> If someone holds a "short earth" belief (that the Earth is less than 7000
> years old--many Christian fundamentalists in Texas hold this belief), much
> scientifically gathered data will either have to be ignored or will be
> explained away by conspiracy theories.
Here is the article I read at the time about this latest controversy:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/16/texas-schools-rewrites-us-history
Excerpts:
"The board is to vote on a sweeping purge of alleged liberal bias in Texas school
textbooks in favour of what Dunbar says really matters: a belief in America as a nation
chosen by God as a beacon to the world, and free enterprise as the cornerstone of liberty
and democracy."
"Those corrections have prompted a blizzard of accusations of rewriting history and
indoctrinating children by promoting rightwing views on religion, economics and
guns while diminishing the science of evolution, the civil rights movement
and the horrors of slavery."
This is progress?
- --
~~ Best of wishes
Dr. Roy S. Schestowitz (Ph.D. Medical Biophysics), Imaging Researcher
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU/Linux administration | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Editor @ http://techrights.org & Broadcaster @ http://bytesmedia.co.uk/
GPL-licensed 3-D Othello @ http://othellomaster.com
Non-profit search engine proposal @ http://iuron.com
Contact E-mail address (direct): s at schestowitz dot com
Contact Internet phone (SIP): schestowitz@xxxxxxxxx (24/7)
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