Dumbed Down, PC Textbooks for History
Today's MSNBC has an interesting article on the political drivers for textbooks:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12705167/?GT1=8199
It's synchronicity that this appeared two days after I posted a review of my son's history textbook, The Americans, by Gerald Danzer, et al. It coverage of WWII has serious deficiencies, largely due to PC-motivated additions and deletions. Here's a quote from my review:
- The Navajo Code-Talkers get their own sidebar on page 579. Their contribution was tactical, not strategic. However, the efforts of codebreakers who defeated Japanese and German encryption (truly war-winning, history-changing contributions) receive no such recognition, despite the pivotal significance of their achievments for the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Atlantic, among others. Major deficiency!
- Many units distinguished themselves in the air war over Germany. Yet while the 8th Air Force receives no mention, for example, page 573 singles out the Tuskagee Airmen as "Heroes in Combat". The same page runs through the major minority units of concern to the book's authors, like a checklist. An all-Mexican unit is mentioned by name, the 101st Airborne is not!
- The effects of this "affirmative action" in history are a disappointment. As a result of it, for example, space is given to another ethic group checklist on page 564, yet no space is found anywhere for mention of the the Guadalcanal Campaign, the beginning and archetype of the Pacific island war. One has political significance. Apparently the other did not.
(the rest of my review is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618015337/ref=pd_rvi_gw_3/103-6033827-7135015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155)
The article refers to a chairwoman of a textbook committee who did not care of the books were "effective", only if they were "correct".
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12705167/?GT1=8199
It's synchronicity that this appeared two days after I posted a review of my son's history textbook, The Americans, by Gerald Danzer, et al. It coverage of WWII has serious deficiencies, largely due to PC-motivated additions and deletions. Here's a quote from my review:
- The Navajo Code-Talkers get their own sidebar on page 579. Their contribution was tactical, not strategic. However, the efforts of codebreakers who defeated Japanese and German encryption (truly war-winning, history-changing contributions) receive no such recognition, despite the pivotal significance of their achievments for the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Atlantic, among others. Major deficiency!
- Many units distinguished themselves in the air war over Germany. Yet while the 8th Air Force receives no mention, for example, page 573 singles out the Tuskagee Airmen as "Heroes in Combat". The same page runs through the major minority units of concern to the book's authors, like a checklist. An all-Mexican unit is mentioned by name, the 101st Airborne is not!
- The effects of this "affirmative action" in history are a disappointment. As a result of it, for example, space is given to another ethic group checklist on page 564, yet no space is found anywhere for mention of the the Guadalcanal Campaign, the beginning and archetype of the Pacific island war. One has political significance. Apparently the other did not.
(the rest of my review is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618015337/ref=pd_rvi_gw_3/103-6033827-7135015?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155)
The article refers to a chairwoman of a textbook committee who did not care of the books were "effective", only if they were "correct".
posted by Prospero at 9:48 PM
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