Social Policy | |
Textbooks Are Politically Correct -- And Inaccurate |
Publishers of the most widely used textbooks in the United States have been rewriting American
history and social studies texts in recent decades to meet the demands of the multicultural left and
religious right, says historian Alexander Stille. The need to please or not offend every possible
constituency has resulted in books that are inaccurate, trivial and boring. For instance, says Stille, to cater to various pressure groups, publishers have distorted history to
create ethnic heroes and excised words deemed offensive by some members of minorities -- even
though preferred by others in the same minority group. For example:
Propelling this trend, says Stille, is the economic necessity of satisfying textbook adoption committees in Texas and California, which taken together account for 20 percent of the textbooks sold in America. Twenty-two states review and adopt textbooks at the state level -- usually choosing from ones selected in the biggest states. A textbook series can now cost $35 million to produce, and the number of publishers who can afford to compete is dwindling. In the late 1980s, 20 publishers were producing social studies textbooks, but only five competed in the latest Texas adoption. Source: Alexander Stille, "The Betrayal of History," New York Review of Books, June 11, 1998. |