Proposed Social Studies Electives
Texts/Resources:
I am posting this because U-46 parents and citizens have a
right and a duty to know what is planned for instruction
of their children before it is approved by the BOE (Board of Education). There
are six (seven if Law and Law II are counted as two courses) High School Social
Studies Electives courses, the resources/textbooks on which the U-46 BOE will
be voting on MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016 AT 7 PM, AT 355 EAST CHICAGO STREET IN
ELGIN. There are numerous issues in the proposed texts/resources, including an
overarching and pervasive politically left bias, a love-affair with Karl Marx, factual
inaccuracies about the history of Islam and Israel, global warming
pseudo-science without opposing viewpoint (except in World Geography), anti-American bias, anti-traditional family bias,
anti-war dogma with no opposing viewpoint, and profound moral relativism, among
other issues . I will cover each of the texts/resources one at a time. There is
no way I could cover the majority of the material in the texts (and this review
is over 2500 words), but the problems I did find are enough that I will not
voting for any of these texts/resources.
The proposed texts/resources include:
1.
Into to
Psychology (Textbook: “Thinking About Psychology”): This is publicly
available (a simple Google search for this text returns it as the first result)
and can be viewed here.
2.
Sociology
(Textbook: “Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach”, 12th edition)
3.
Intro to
Law and Law II (Textbook: “Street Law”, 9th Edition)
4.
International
Relations (Textbook/Resource: “Current Issues Series”, Brown University, publicly available)
5.
World
History (Textbook: “World History”, Pearson Publishing, 2016 Edition)
6.
World
Geography (Textbook: “Geography: The Human and Physical World”, McGraw
Hill)
Problematic portions of the texts/resources are below:
1.
Intro to
Psychology (publicly
available)
a)
A lesson
entitled “The Psychology of Culture and Gender” includes links to an article on “Ethnocentrism”
which cites the International Declaration of Human rights as a starting point
for evaluating cultures, but asserts that “there are few absolute answers”. The same article changes the definition of
relativism to “not judging others' ways and accepting
them as equal to our own”. Actually, relativism is the belief that there is no
absolute truth (except the absolute truth that there is no absolute truth…).
b)
The same lesson includes a link to a Tolerance.org
(a “Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center” – a hard left organization
proclaiming itself to be a watchdog on hate groups and hate crimes) page where students can “test [their] hidden
bias”
2.
Sociology
(Textbook: “Sociology: A Down to Earth
Approach”, 12th edition)
a)
On the Table of Contents page a note “To the
Students…from the Author” states, “From how people become homeless to how they
become presidents, from why people commit suicide to why women are
discriminated against in every society around the world – are all part of
sociology”. Painting the whole world as discriminating to women with a broad
brush like this is irresponsible and misleading.
b)
Chapter 1, Quiz: The male/female wage gap myth
is propagated with the statement “Over the years, the wage gap has narrowed,
but only slightly. On average, full-time working women earn about 72% of what
full-time working men earn. This low figure is actually an improvement over
earlier years.” No opposing viewpoint is presented. Here is one,
from a Harvard economics professor Claudia Goldin. Goldin spoke to Stephen
Dubner, the journalist behind the popular podcast “Freakanomics,” in a segment about
what really causes the gap. Goldin concludes that the gap is due mostly to
choices men and women make in their careers and not discrimination.
c)
In a section entitled, “Karl Marx and Conflict
Theory” (page 27), a rosy picture of Karl Marx and communism is painted.
Communism = good, capitalism = bad.
Employers are evil people who will not give workers’ rights unless forced to do
so:
“Karl Marx, the founder of
conflict theory, witnessed the Industrial Revolution that transformed Europe.
..he concluded that the key to human history is ‘class conflict’. In each
society, some small group controls the means of production and exploits those
who are not in control. In industrialized societies, the struggle is between
the ‘bourgeoisie’, the small group of capitalists who own the means to produce
wealth, and the ‘proletariat’, the mass of workers who are exploited by the bourgeoisie.
The capitalists control the legal and political system. If the workers rebel,
the capitalists call on the power of the state to subdue them.
“When Marx made his observations,
capitalism was in its infancy and workers were at the mercy of their employers…Marx’s
analysis reminds us that [worker benefits] came not from generous hearts but
from workers forcing concessions by their employers.”
d)
“Ethnocentrism” and “Cultural Relativsm”, pages
36-39. The idea is presented that there is no good and bad, only differences in
cultures. No one culture is better than any other culture.
e)
In a lesson headlined, “Values in US Society”, a
list of 10 values ends with:
“’Group superiority’. Although it contradicts
the values of freedom, democracy, and equality, Americans regard some groups
more highly than others and have done so throughout their history. The denial
of the vote to women, the slaughter of Native Americans, and the enslavement of
Africans are a few examples of how the groups considered superior have denied
equality and freedom to others”.
There is no mention of the fact
that Americans were the ones who fought for women’s right to vote, that
countries around the world practiced slavery (and some still do), that
Americans fought a civil war to end slavery, and that it was often Africans who
sold fellow Africans into slavery in the first place.
f)
In a lesson entitled, “Socialization into
Gender” (pages 74 and 75) the idea is presented that the children of Gay and
Lesbian parents “show less gender stereotyping”. Traditional families, by
inference, teach their children to stereotype.
g)
There are many, many other examples, too many to
cover here. Suffice it to say that many U-46 parents would find this textbook
extremely objectionable.
3.
Intro
to Law and Law II (Textbook: “Street Law”, 9th Edition)
a)
Chapter 1: “What is Law: Human Rights”, introduces the UN Declaration of Human
Rights as the standard for what Human Rights are (not the US Bill of Rights,
not the US Declaration of Independence). It states, “The Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR) is a statement of basic human rights and standards for
government that has been agreed to by almost every country in the world…The UDHR is not a binding
treaty. However, the UN has established a system of international treaties and
other legal mechanisms to enforce human rights. These include...the right to adequate education, food,
housing, health care, protection of property, and employment in safe conditions
at an adequate salary.”
If a textbook on Law in the United States cannot
ascertain and explain to students that food, housing, health care, employment,
and an adequate salary are not rights, but must be earned, and that people have
no right to the labor of others without remuneration (which is theft), then there
is no hope for this textbook.
Furthermore, UDHR does
not set out any agreed upon standard for all peoples and nations.
The Declaration of Independence in its opening sets the standard for human
rights in the US : “When in the Course of human events, it becomes
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected
them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate
and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them,
a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare
the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure
these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness….”
Notice that rights come from God.
4.
International
Relations (Textbook/Resource: “Current Issues Series”, Brown University, publicly available)
a)
The most frequently cited news sources
throughout this resource are those which lean left, e.g., “The New York Times”
, “The Huffington Post”, CNN
b)
The lesson “Negotiating Climate Change: Paris 2015” is completely one-sided. The top objective of this lesson is
“examine the need for, and challenges associated with, creating an
international agreement on climate change”. (It is apparently established fact
that climate change needs to be combated). One video provided explains the
utter chaos the world will face, including the wiping out of whole societies, if
climate change is not stopped. In the handout, students are asked: “Write a
one- or two-sentence summary on why the Conference is important” and “How do
you think the global crisis will continue to play out?” There is no presentation
of the fact that many prominent scientists disagree about climate change, or of
the scandal (Climate Gate) where scientists cooked the data to make it appear
that the earth was warming when it was not.
c)
The “Resource Guide on the Terrorist Attacks in Paris” includes a link to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s
“Debunking Stereotypes about Muslims and Islam”. As stated previously, the SPLC
is a hard left organization.
d)
The lessons “Refugee Stories: Mapping a Crisis” and “The Iraqi Refugee Crisis” paint a
very sympathetic view of refugees without exploring the consequences for taking
in refugees and how to insure refugees are not terrorists looking for an easy
path into the US. In the Iraqi lesson under the heading “Considering U.S.
Policy” are two videos from a professor who states “The U.S. government has a
responsibility to do much more than what it is doing now.” Although students
are asked whether they “agree with this statement? Why or why not?” they are
not provided with videos presenting the opposing view.
e)
The lesson “The Costs of War” presentsone-sided
anti-war biased information without discussion of the merits of any war and includes
no discussion of why war may be necessary. (It also refers to America’s
political system as a ‘democracy’; it is not. It is a Republic).
f)
The lesson “Human
Rights” cites international underpinnings for human rights but
the Declaration
of Independence and the US Bill of Rights is conspicuously absent:
“Students trace the origins
and history of international human rights, exploring the effects of events such
as World War II and the Nuremberg Trials, the birth of the United Nations and
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Cold War, and decolonization.
They also consider human rights in practice today, exploring how different
actors—such as national governments, the UN, international courts, NGOs, and
individuals—influence human rights around the world. Students consider current
challenges in human rights, and also examine five case studies that highlight
major controversies.”
5.
World
History (textbook: ““World
History”, Pearson Publishing, 2016 Edition): This text has numerous pervasive
factual problems and biases, including (a detailed account compiled by “Truth
in Texas Textbooks” can be found here.
It is based on the 2014 edition but based on the responses of the publisher the
criticisms still apply):
a)
The mischaracterization that Muslims were the
original occupants of the Holy Land and that Christians invaded it
b)
Failure to mention the expulsion and/or
slaughter of Jews who did not wish to convert to Islam, instead claiming that Muhammad “brought peace among the clans of
Medina”
c)
Mischaracterization of what the Qur’an says,
claiming “The Quran teaches about what Muslims
believe to be God’s will and provides a guide to life. Its ethical standards
emphasize honesty, generosity, and social justice,” while omitting the fact
that other passages in the Qur’an teach that it is the duty of Muslims
to wage jihad warfare until Islam and
Shari’a
law are supreme over the entire world.
d)
The fallacy that Muslims believe that
Christians, Jews, and Muslims serve the same God and that Christians and Jews
enjoyed religious freedom under Muslim rule
e)
The mischaracterization of the PLO (Palestinian
Liberation Organization) as having renounced terrorism, while its charter calls
for the destruction of Israel
f)
Mischaracterization of the 1948 Arab/Israeli war
by omission of the fact that Israel did not create the refugee problem and that
the Arabs who fled from Israel in 1948-49 did so in obedience to their own
leaders. It is also omitted that those who stayed were not forced out and are
now free citizens of Israel.
6.
World
Geography: (textbook: “Geography: The Human and Physical World”, McGraw
Hill)
a)
Of the texts examined, this one gave the
opposing argument for man-made global warming. In a Lesson entitled, “The Global
Warming Debate”, “Arguments to Refute Climate Change” are presented alongside
“Arguments to Support Climate Change”. Kudos.
b)
“Truth in Texas Textbooks” has produced a
helpful review
of this text (albeit from the 2014 edition. Some of their comments are still
applicable to the 2016 edition). Their applicable findings show a pervasive
anti-Israel bias.
i.
Chapter 16: The Eastern Mediterranean: Lesson 1:
The Physical Geography of the Eastern Mediterranean, states, “Syria, the northernmost country in the
Eastern Mediterranean, is bordered by Turkey on the north, Iraq on the east,
Jordan on the south, and Lebanon and Israel on the southwest. To the southwest
of Syria is a territory called the Golan Heights. This territory consists of a
rocky plateau that is officially part of Syria, but most of it has
been occupied by Israel since 1967 (emphasis mine).
To quote “Truth
in Texas Textbooks”, “The wording
of UN Resolution 242 clearly reflects the contention that none of the
territories were occupied territories
taken by force in an unjust war. Because the Arabs were clearly the
aggressors, nowhere in UN Security Council Resolutions 242 is Israel
branded as an invader or unlawful occupier of the territories.
ii.
Chapter 16: The Eastern Mediterranean: Lesson 2:
The Physical Geography of the Eastern Mediterranean, states, “Due to military conflicts and resettlement
programs, many Palestinians were displaced beginning with the war following
Israel’s declaration of independence. They relocated to refugee settlements in
neighboring Arab countries. In 2012 the UN reported that there were 4,797,723
registered Palestinian refugees living in 58 camps in Syria, Lebanon, and
Jordan. These include several generations of descendants of the original
refugees. This has been a serious humanitarian issue that hampers peace talks
between Israel and the Palestinians.”
This again shows an anti-Israel
bias. Again quoting “Truth
in Texas Textbooks”, “This statement is propaganda with very little truth
and few historical facts. Arab leaders ordered the Palestinians to flee.
Palestinians were told to vacate their villages and that they would be allowed
to return after the ‘Zionists’ were defeated.
“In addition students are not told that the Arab nations refused to take in the Palestinians; that they chose instead to use them and to exploit their suffering for purposes of discrediting and delegitimizing Israel. Although some camps were set up in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, those countries refused to allow the refugees into their societies.”
In conclusion, the numerous issues in the above proposed
texts/resources, including an overarching and pervasive politically left bias,
a love-affair with Karl Marx, factual inaccuracies about the history of Islam
and Israel, global warming pseudo-science without opposing viewpoint (except in
World Geography), anti-American
bias, anti-traditional family bias, anti-war dogma with no opposing viewpoint,
and profound moral relativism, among other issues, prevent me from voting yes
for any of these resources.
