Erasing American History From Schools

Look what they're erasing from U.S. history!

A state board of only 15 people will vote on whether to revise U.S. textbooks to omit references to Daniel Boone, Gen. George Patton, Nathan Hale, Columbus Day and Christmas.

The Texas State Board of Education will also vote on a proposal to substitute the term "American" with "global citizen."

Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, is warning Americans to speak up before only eight people, with a majority vote, have a chance to literally rewrite American history.

He appeared on the "Huckabee Show" to explain why the board's vote matters to the rest of America. Staver said Texas and California are the two largest textbook purchasers in the nation.

"Whatever textbooks they select affect the rest of the country because publishers publish those kinds of books, and the rest of the country follows," he said.

But because of California's budget crisis, the state hasn't been able to purchase as many new textbooks, he explained. So the default is Texas.

"So when this 15-member board – eight people of that will make a majority – make a decision, it will affect the entire nation," Staver said.

Those eight people could decide what children will learn in various other parts of the country.


According to Liberty Counsel, some of the suggestions that have come forward at various times include:

* Removing references to Daniel Boone, General George Patton, Nathan Hale, Columbus Day and Christmas.

* Including the cultural impact of hip-hop music, ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow and the Hindu holiday of Diwali.

* Replacing the term "American" with "global citizen" – stating that students need to be shaped "for responsible citizenship in a global society" without any mention of citizenship in American society.

* Replacing expansionism and free enterprise with imperialism and capitalism.

Staver said one proposal suggests the name of Nathan Hale, a patriot of the American Revolutionary War, be removed and replaced with the name of a man who invented fireman helmets. He also said one proposal suggests removal of references to Independence Day.

"Those are no good anymore," Staver told Mike Huckabee. "America is looked at, not as some country that gave liberty and freedom to others around the world, but as a global villain."

He warns, one proposal suggests take the Declaration of Independence and literally erasing God from its Preamble.

"A lot of the history – particularly religious history or patriotic history and American exceptionalism – all of that will simply be removed if people around the country don't speak up," he said.

Cynthia Dunbar, an elected member of the board and assistant professor at Liberty University School of Law, said, "James Madison warned us that when error is allowed to become steeped in precedent it leads to tyranny. If an erroneous view of our American heritage is allowed to stand, that view will be even more entrenched when we revisit this issue again in 10 years. Since the board consists of only 15 members, the decision of eight individuals may determine what goes into textbooks on a national level; it is crucial that the voices of patriotic Americans be heard."

The board's next meeting is in March, and the final reading and adoption of the social studies guidelines will be in May.