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Post by onelasttime on Oct 30, 2021 3:38:10 GMT
I read stuff like this I just want to scream. Still not happy about the title.
But check out the subjects this lawmaker does not want our kids in school to learn about. And I’m talking about older kids. Not younger kids unless it makes sense.
NBC News…
“Texas lawmaker says 850 books ranging from race to sexuality could cause 'discomfort'”
Oct. 27, 2021, 3:08 PM PDT
By Corky Siemaszko
“A Texas Republican lawmaker has drawn up a list of 850 books on subjects ranging from racism to sexuality that could “make students feel discomfort,” and is demanding that school districts across the state report whether any are in their classrooms or libraries.
State Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, also wants to know how many copies of each book the districts have and how much money they spent on them, according to a letter he sent Monday to Lily Laux, deputy commissioner of school programs at the Texas Education Agency, and several school district superintendents.
Krause, who chairs the state’s House Committee on General Investigating, also directed the districts to identify “any other books” that could cause students “guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.”
From the letter the fool wrote..
“Recently, a number of Texas school districts around the state including Carroll ISD1, Spring Branch ISD2, Lake Travis ISD3, Leander ISD4, and Katy ISD5, have removed books from libraries and/or classrooms after receiving objections from students, parents, and taxpayers.
I am writing to you as the Chairman of the Texas House Committee on General Investigating. Pursuant to Government Code Section 301.020(a)(4), the committee may initiate inquiries concerning any “matter the committee considers necessary for the information of the legislature or for the welfare and protection of state citizens.”
In accordance with the Committee’s jurisdiction and my authority as Chairman, I am initiating an inquiry into Texas school district content and request preliminary information regarding the following:
1. Please identify how many copies of each book in the attached Addendum your District possesses and at what campus locations including school library and classroom collections.
2. Please identify the amount of funds spent by your District to acquire the books identified in request No. 1 above.
3. Please identify any other books or content in your District, specifying the campus location and funds spent on acquisition, that address or contain the following topics: human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually explicit images, graphic presentations of sexual behavior that is in violation of the law, or contain material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Your prompt attention to this request is appreciated, and I request a written response via email by November 12, 2021. If you have any questions, please contact me or the Committee’s General Counsel, Darren Keyes”
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Post by dewryce on Oct 30, 2021 4:22:37 GMT
The idea that factual, age appropriate history textbooks should be removed because what happened in history might make some people feel “uncomfortable” is ludicrous.
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Deleted
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Nov 24, 2024 3:28:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2021 4:26:02 GMT
Listen to this badass talk about "discomfort" vs. violence. Speaking truth to power.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 24, 2024 3:28:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2021 4:27:15 GMT
The GOP, here to ensure the kids are just as ignorant as their mommies and daddies were (and are).
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Oct 30, 2021 4:44:49 GMT
Less education makes people more vulnerable to conspiracy theories.
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Post by onelasttime on Oct 30, 2021 5:08:38 GMT
This is just plain ridiculous. Yesterday in the the Senate Committee meeting with Merrick Garland one of the Republicans Senators started harping about Merrick Garland’s conflict of interest. Had no idea what he was talking about until today. Fox News printed an article about how this Law Firm who has filed a request for an investigation of Merrick Garland’s supposed conflict of interest. This is the law firm that’s filing the request…. “America First Legal, Stephen Miller's legal group, eyes 'target-rich environment' after early wins”This is the supposed conflict of interest…. Fox News link“Attorney General Garland’s son-in-law is Alexander Tanner. Mr. Tanner is a corporate official of Panorama Education Inc.," the statement adds. "Panorama’s website assures school boards it may purchase racial and gender indoctrination, data mining, and other services using parents’ tax dollars. Publicly available corporate data shows investors, including tech billionaire oligarchs, have invested over ninety million dollars in Panorama. Panorama’s business, its investors, and Mr. Tanner are likely to be adversely affected if parents protest and stop school boards from funding racial and gender indoctrination (i.e. ‘equity’) programs aimed at K-12 public school students." The firm argues that federal ethics rules required Garland to disclose and seek clearance in order to preside over a matter where his son-in-law has a vested financial interest in Critical Race Theory being accepted by school boards. "The nut of the matter is this," Senior Counselor and Director of Oversight and Investigations America First Legal Foundation Reed Rubinstein told Fox News. "His son-in-law’s business depends for its revenue on the willingness of school boards to purchase their services for racial and gender based indoctrination and other sorts of surveys and data mining. If parents are protesting successfully and stop this sort of activity then the business of Panorama and the son-in-law’s ownership interest is adversely affected. If the parents win then Panorama and its investors lose." There is a National Board of School Officials who reached out to President Biden to see if there was some help the school districts could receive from the Feds with the THREATS OF VIOLENCE school officials and teachers have been receiving from wacko parents because they can’t their way over mask mandates and teaching CRT in the schools. And yes anybody who threatens other people with violence is a wacko. So Merrick Garland wrote a memorandum about THREATS OF VIOLENCE school officials are receiving. Now the racist Stephen Miller’s law firm is filing a request for an investigation into Merrick Garland’s conflict of interest because he wrote a memorandum about THREATS OF VIOLENCE aimed at School Officials & teachers by wacko parents (which is his job) and because his son-in-law works for a company that sells CRT books.🤦🏻♀️ |
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Post by monklady123 on Oct 30, 2021 8:33:04 GMT
There's nothing wrong with a little "discomfort", age-appropriate of course. The "discomfort" is what helps us learn and grow, instead of just being stuck in our own bubble. One part of a pastor's job description is said to be "to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable." As a chaplain of course I do more comforting the afflicted, but every once in awhile I can sneak in some of the second part.  And I believe that churches need to be afflicting the comfortable by teaching how Jesus lived and worked, especially that tricky part about "love your neighbor". Anyway, yes kids in school should be "discomforted" from time to time. Obviously we're not teaching elementary school kids about the Holocaust or about lynchings in the United States, but high schoolers should definitely learn about those things. And I would hope that they would all feel "discomfort" after learning about them. |
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Post by peasapie on Oct 30, 2021 11:22:05 GMT
Based on the violence contained within its pages, if any book should be banned on the basis of causing discomfort, it would be the Holy Bible.
People ban books because they don’t like to feel uncomfortable in having their preconceived ideas challenged. Thought control at its finest.
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Post by mollycoddle on Oct 30, 2021 11:45:09 GMT
There's nothing wrong with a little "discomfort", age-appropriate of course. The "discomfort" is what helps us learn and grow, instead of just being stuck in our own bubble. One part of a pastor's job description is said to be "to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable." As a chaplain of course I do more comforting the afflicted, but every once in awhile I can sneak in some of the second part. And I believe that churches need to be afflicting the comfortable by teaching how Jesus lived and worked, especially that tricky part about "love your neighbor". Anyway, yes kids in school should be "discomforted" from time to time. Obviously we're not teaching elementary school kids about the Holocaust or about lynchings in the United States, but high schoolers should definitely learn about those things. And I would hope that they would all feel "discomfort" after learning about them. This. I imagine that life would be much more pleasant if we all lived in a happy little bubble, but this would stunt our coping and problem-solving skills. And that is no way to go through life, since mommy and daddy cannot protect you forever. This reminds me of those helicopter parents who swoop in and solve all of Junior’s problems. The thing is, Junior will eventually come up against a problem that he has to figure out. Sadly, he has not developed the skills to do that. Information, good and bad, is similar. When we learn about horrific events as young adults, we are hopefully shocked. We think about the sad event and begin to develop our beliefs about big events or people in history who did good or bad things. What if you never thought about those things? That is how we end up with shallow adults who lack empathy and a coherent belief system. A certain famous former President comes to mind. 🤔 |
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Post by circusjohnson on Oct 30, 2021 14:31:52 GMT
I am a school librarian. This is happening across the country. I read the list of books. I would love to know who put the list together because I'm sure it wasn't this legislature. I'm sure he hasn't read any of the books on the list. A good portion are LGBTQ+ books. And so many left me shaking my head in disbelief because for the life of me I can't figure out why you would be against kids reading it. It's ok to be uncomfortable to recognize other peoples pain and then be moved to work on not being racist. Books build empathy. They are powerful change makers. Who benefits when our young people don't have empathy for people who are not like them? Those that have the power and want to keep the power. When you take out all that makes us feel or question you get a Curriculum or irrelevancy. The link is a blog post by author, educator and college professor Kyleen Beers! It is definitely worth a read |
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Oct 30, 2021 14:46:25 GMT
circusjohnson'They' don't see the need for their children, or themselves, to have empathy for others unlike themselves. Only theirs count!
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Post by catmom on Oct 30, 2021 14:52:21 GMT
So is the Bible on that list? Because to me, the Bible is the number one book that is presumably in all schools and would certainly cause kids of any age to feel guilt, confusion or mental anguish related to any number of topics.
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Oct 30, 2021 14:55:01 GMT
So is the Bible on that list? Because to me, the Bible is the number one book that is presumably in all schools and would certainly cause kids of any age to feel guilt, confusion or mental anguish related to any number of topics. Agreed and peasapie also pointed it out. Sure glad more feel the same way. |
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Deleted
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Nov 24, 2024 3:28:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2021 15:01:56 GMT
Bible is the number one book that is presumably in all schools and would certainly cause kids of any age to feel guilt, confusion or mental anguish related to any number of topics. You mean the all-powerful god of the universe picking one tiny group of people as his "chosen" ones? LIke that? Or maybe when god sends bears to kill little children who make fun of a bald guy? Like that? Or maybe when the all-loving god of the universe kills every baby, infant, toddler and child on earth in a snit because "people are bad" (which he knew they would be when he created them). Like that? |
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PLurker
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,840
Location: Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Oct 30, 2021 15:24:13 GMT
Isn't book banning the epitome of "cancel culture" they're all bitching about. Oh wait, I forgot. If they're doing the cancelling it's righteous.
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SweetieBsMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,785 
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Post by SweetieBsMom on Oct 30, 2021 15:42:27 GMT
No. Kids shouldn't be shielded. Life is uncomfortable. Aspects of history are uncomfortable. Kids need to learn that not everything is warm and cozy and comfortable. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
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Post by melanell on Oct 30, 2021 17:17:05 GMT
As far as I am concerned, history, education, learning, reading, thinking, communicating, etc. should all cause us discomfort once in awhile, even when we are young, or maybe, especially when we are young. It's a very important part of building empathy in my opinion.
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Post by epeanymous on Oct 30, 2021 17:27:55 GMT
It is incredibly dishonest. He doesn’t care about discomfort. He cares about the discomfort of white kids. The fact that if you are black or another person of color learning an incomplete, dishonest, sanitized version of American history and literature, one that pretends you do not exist and your ancestors did not exist, makes you uncomfortable is not his concern. Those kids and families are not part of his thinking.
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edie3
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,684
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Post by edie3 on Oct 30, 2021 18:43:03 GMT
history, education, learning, reading, thinking, communicating, etc. should all cause us discomfort How do we learn and grow if not from feeling this way? |
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Post by katlaw on Oct 30, 2021 19:06:58 GMT
Russian schools teach children about the Russian Revolution. They do not glorify, they set out the facts.
In Canada it’s not controversial to teach critical race theory in schools. Critical race theory has become a cornerstone of our curriculums because we want to learn from dark events from the past and be better people.
I think if you Google you will find that America is unique in trying to hide their dark past in children's education.
Are other countries proud of their racist history? Nope. But it happened. We need to acknowledge it, teach our children why it was wrong and never allow it to happen again. White people dragged coloured people away from their homes, chained them, beat them and enslaved them. White people drove indigenous people from their lands, lied to them, starved them, destroyed their culture. Why is it wrong for our children to learn about the history?
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Post by monklady123 on Oct 30, 2021 19:13:09 GMT
Is the list somewhere? I'd like to see what he's railing against. And if the list is in a link somewhere in the original post my excuse is that my eyes are still dilated from a visit to the doctor a few hours ago and let's just say it's a good thing I'm an excellent typist as I struggle to see my keyboard.  |
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Post by onelasttime on Oct 30, 2021 19:31:33 GMT
Is the list somewhere? I'd like to see what he's railing against. And if the list is in a link somewhere in the original post my excuse is that my eyes are still dilated from a visit to the doctor a few hours ago and let's just say it's a good thing I'm an excellent typist as I struggle to see my keyboard.  Here you go, the link was buried. 16 pages of books.. link |
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Post by ntsf on Oct 30, 2021 19:40:06 GMT
this whole conversation remains me of a middle school history teacher. we had really old textbooks on our state history. we spent a lot of time finding the errors in the book and writing the company that published it.
lots of critical thinking. we should read what we want.. we should be taught to analyze it.
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Post by katlady on Oct 30, 2021 21:24:51 GMT
history, education, learning, reading, thinking, communicating, etc. should all cause us discomfort How do we learn and grow if not from feeling this way? And art! Good art should make you feel something, even discomfort. But people love to censor art. It has been happening for centuries. |
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Post by birukitty on Oct 30, 2021 22:15:12 GMT
Russian schools teach children about the Russian Revolution. They do not glorify, they set out the facts. In Canada it’s not controversial to teach critical race theory in schools. Critical race theory has become a cornerstone of our curriculums because we want to learn from dark events from the past and be better people. I think if you Google you will find that America is unique in trying to hide their dark past in children's education. Are other countries proud of their racist history? Nope. But it happened. We need to acknowledge it, teach our children why it was wrong and never allow it to happen again. White people dragged coloured people away from their homes, chained them, beat them and enslaved them. White people drove indigenous people from their lands, lied to them, starved them, destroyed their culture. Why is it wrong for our children to learn about the history? And in German schools students are taught about Germany's role in the Holocaust and every German student is taken on a field trip to a concentration camp museum. It isn't white washed there either or ignored. If we don't learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it. I agree with your post 100% Kawlaw. What Texas is trying to do is very dangerous. It's very wrong. Students should never be shielded from the truth about history. Reading builds empathy, especially fiction reading. I still remember very vividly that day in elementary school when I first learned about the Holocaust. I was so shocked and upset because my mother was a young child in Germany during this time-she was born in 1939 in Germany to a single mother. I remember running home after school and confronting my mother asking her why she didn't do anything to save the Jews. She explained to me that she was a very young child and that she couldn't do anything. I got that so I asked her why Oma (my grandmother didn't do anything). She then explained to me that as a single mother Oma couldn't do anything because then Oma would have been thrown in a camp and who would have taken care of her (my mother). I still felt that German guilt for years and years of my life. It didn't go away until I visited the Auschwitz museum in 2017 when I was 57 and prayed for forgiveness when I was there. I love reading and read every single day of my life. My favorite genre is historical fiction and I've read a ton about the Holocaust over the years. I believe it's made me a more compassionate and knowledgeable person. I am very grateful my school taught me the facts about this history. Trying to shield students from history and other painful aspects of life is completely wrong! By trying to shield students this way you are depriving them of a true and decent education. You are making them into "bubble children" who won't be able to think for themselves, solve their own problems or have any compassion for others. Just what we want for the future of American citizens-NOT! |
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Post by myshelly on Oct 30, 2021 22:22:17 GMT
Has anyone been able to find a list of the books?
I have been googling and trying to find the original text of the letter and the list of books since this story came out (it’s local to me).
Nevermind found it in the thread. Should have read first.
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Post by katlaw on Oct 30, 2021 23:13:54 GMT
Russian schools teach children about the Russian Revolution. They do not glorify, they set out the facts. In Canada it’s not controversial to teach critical race theory in schools. Critical race theory has become a cornerstone of our curriculums because we want to learn from dark events from the past and be better people. I think if you Google you will find that America is unique in trying to hide their dark past in children's education. Are other countries proud of their racist history? Nope. But it happened. We need to acknowledge it, teach our children why it was wrong and never allow it to happen again. White people dragged coloured people away from their homes, chained them, beat them and enslaved them. White people drove indigenous people from their lands, lied to them, starved them, destroyed their culture. Why is it wrong for our children to learn about the history? And in German schools students are taught about Germany's role in the Holocaust and every German student is taken on a field trip to a concentration camp museum. It isn't white washed there either or ignored. If we don't learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it. I agree with your post 100% Kawlaw. What Texas is trying to do is very dangerous. It's very wrong. Students should never be shielded from the truth about history. Reading builds empathy, especially fiction reading. I still remember very vividly that day in elementary school when I first learned about the Holocaust. I was so shocked and upset because my mother was a young child in Germany during this time-she was born in 1939 in Germany to a single mother. I remember running home after school and confronting my mother asking her why she didn't do anything to save the Jews. She explained to me that she was a very young child and that she couldn't do anything. I got that so I asked her why Oma (my grandmother didn't do anything). She then explained to me that as a single mother Oma couldn't do anything because then Oma would have been thrown in a camp and who would have taken care of her (my mother). I still felt that German guilt for years and years of my life. It didn't go away until I visited the Auschwitz museum in 2017 when I was 57 and prayed for forgiveness when I was there. I love reading and read every single day of my life. My favorite genre is historical fiction and I've read a ton about the Holocaust over the years. I believe it's made me a more compassionate and knowledgeable person. I am very grateful my school taught me the facts about this history. Trying to shield students from history and other painful aspects of life is completely wrong! By trying to shield students this way you are depriving them of a true and decent education. You are making them into "bubble children" who won't be able to think for themselves, solve their own problems or have any compassion for others. Just what we want for the future of American citizens-NOT! Thank you for mentioning Germany. When I studied German in high school my German teacher had a similar story about learning the history of the holocaust. I believe when we do not teach our children our history we are not teaching them empathy. |
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Deleted
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Nov 24, 2024 3:28:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2021 23:28:27 GMT
No. Kids shouldn't be shielded. Life is uncomfortable. Aspects of history are uncomfortable. Kids need to learn that not everything is warm and cozy and comfortable. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I think we should try to make each other as comfortable as possible. Like not name-calling or exclusion or violence or behavior that harm. But to be kept mollycoddled about our HISTORY!?!?!? Hell to the no.
Sometimes the only way I get through the day is remember that however awful we are as humans, we USED TO BE MUCH WORSE.
That should be cause for hope not "discomfort."
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Post by snugglebutter on Oct 31, 2021 6:38:42 GMT
I am a school librarian. This is happening across the country. I read the list of books. I would love to know who put the list together because I'm sure it wasn't this legislature. I'm sure he hasn't read any of the books on the list. A good portion are LGBTQ+ books. And so many left me shaking my head in disbelief because for the life of me I can't figure out why you would be against kids reading it. It's ok to be uncomfortable to recognize other peoples pain and then be moved to work on not being racist. Books build empathy. They are powerful change makers. Who benefits when our young people don't have empathy for people who are not like them? Those that have the power and want to keep the power. When you take out all that makes us feel or question you get a Curriculum or irrelevancy. The link is a blog post by author, educator and college professor Kyleen Beers! It is definitely worth a read
A friend of mine posted this blog entry last week, which prompted me to get the book it referenced, "Warriors Don't Cry," from the library. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Sadly, I don't think I had read more than a few lines in a textbook about integration in Little Rock before now. Even after finishing the book, I can barely comprehend what those children endured at that school.
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,715
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Post by hannahruth on Oct 31, 2021 10:26:15 GMT
No. Kids shouldn't be shielded. Life is uncomfortable. Aspects of history are uncomfortable. Kids need to learn that not everything is warm and cozy and comfortable. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That ^^^^^ information that is age appropriate is necessary there is no benefit to changing history. |
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And I believe that churches need to be afflicting the comfortable by teaching how Jesus lived and worked, especially that tricky part about "love your neighbor". 
