Lately, I watch the news and I noticed that the state of Texas has passed new standards for their state's US History textbooks. I actually find two problems with this ruling:
1. The board, which is very conservative, voted 9 to 5 that current textbooks are too "liberal" and will revise the material in a more conservative light. This includes downplaying the slave trade, the Civil Rights movement, and the Transcendentalist movement, while promoting God, guns, and Ronald Reagan.
2. Texas has the largest amount of public schools in the nation, and therefore prints a lot of textbooks. This ruling could affect the nation's textbooks as well, since many other public schools order their books from Texas.
This is the latest textbook (pun intended) example of historical revisionism.
Similarly, there are several controversies of historical revisionism found in Japan. Such as the issue of comfort women, mass suicides, the rape of Nanking and other Japanese war crimes, all which were denied or made "justifiable" in historically-revised junior high textbooks. Unsurprisingly, teachers unions and even Japanese who lived during said historical events are crying fowl over the Japanese government's changes, accusing them of trying to indoctrinate Japanese youth with far-right nationalism.
Although far-right groups are known for revising history for their own political agendas, let's not forget that far-left groups are equally as guilty, like the Soviets. Still, historical revisionism can also be good for the purpose of clarifying historical events, especially if freed from bias and political motivation.
CASE FOR HISTORICAL REVISIONISM:
> With new, verified evidence about the historical event found, it can be clarified and revised for accuracy.
CASE AGAINST HISTORICAL REVISIONISM:
> Imposes one view of history without regarding other views or keeping it neutral from bias and inaccuracy.
In the end, I hope that the changes in Texas's history textbooks aren't permanent or at least offer differing views, if not keeping history neutral. However ugly history may be on our end, we can't deny nor change it for the sake of advancing a political agenda. For this old adage still holds true: Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it. And trust me, America's history is pretty damn shaky.
SOURCES: 1, 2, 3
