I intended to write this post about a week ago, but I didn't get to it after the flying hedge clippers attacked my foot, which is much better now although I still can't bend my big toe, but what does it matter? I don't need to bend my big toe.
Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,
I often feel embarrassed by Florida. I don't consider myself a Floridian because I wasn't born here and didn't grow up here so I don't have Florida in my blood, but I have lived here since 2009. Therefore, in some way I'm part of Florida. I'm the crazy radical socialist snowflake libtard feminazi side of Florida, and sometimes I think I'm the only one playing that role.
Florida politics make me want to say no, run away, and tell someone. But each time I get the feeling that it can't get worse in Florida, Texas tends to come along to distract the world from my state and its inherent dumbness. We have Ron DeSantis, but they have Greg Abbott. We have Marco Rubio, but they have Ted Cruz. Hahahahaha! Does it get any worse than Ted Cruz?
Recently I rejoiced in Texas drawing attention with headlines that announced
Texas School Administrator to Teachers: Teach “Opposing” Sides of the Holocaust
Gina Peddy, executive director for curriculum and instruction for the Carroll Independent school district, made the announcement Oct. 8 at a training meeting for elementary school teachers to assist them in complying with Texas House Bill 3979, signed into law Sept. 1 by Gov. Abbott.
The bill––an important example of legislators deciding what students are taught in place of educators doing so––bans educators from exploring disputed issues in the realms of history, society, and politics. If controversial issues do come up, then teachers are to “explore such issues from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.”
Everything we learned in our history classes has an opposing side. The brave colonists fought the tyranny of the British and yada yada yada we have the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, et al.
Colonies = Good England = Bad
So if the subject should happen to come up, and it shouldn't because it has an opposing side, then the kids must learn
Colonies = Bad England = Good
The people of The Great State of Texas are going to love that one.
Slavery is certainly a controversial issue because it will most likely lead to the pesky topic of racism. After Black History Month in February, instead of Women's History Month in March, in Texas it should be Slavery Hall of Fame Month. Who were the greatest plantation owners?
And those kids had better be taught about good ole President Thomas Jefferson and the many children he had with Sally Hemings, who no doubt loved Massa Jefferson so much that she was delighted to be his sex slave.
Then the teachers can move on to
George Floyd = Bad Derek Chauvin = Good
Reading a book about World War II and the brave Allies might be countered with Mein Kampf, in which a woke Hitler explains the need for German expansion and how awful those nasty Jews are.
A subset of World War II is the Holocaust, and the opposing side of the Holocaust is Holocaust denial. Teachers, be ready to hand out those adorable Camp Auschwitz t-shirts along with the book that argues The Diary of Anne Frank is a hoax.
Teaching students the opposing side of the Holocaust is to teach them that Hitler had valid claims and, therefore, prepare their minds to believe that Donald Trump's lies and the lies of Steve Bannon and Alex Jones, et al., are rational, justifiable points.
And that is simply not true.
Good luck, Children of Texas. You're gonna need it.
Infinities of love,
Janie Junebug
From the other side of the world I watch in horror - knowing that some of our own politicians are being encouraged.
ReplyDeleteI hope your poor toe is healing too.
My poor toe is still ugly but it feels better. It thanks you for caring. It has long bothered me that various vices in the US tend to spread around the world.
DeleteWhen I read the title, I was pretty certain I knew where this was going. Yes, thank you, Texas, for making Florida look not quite so bad. What a sick bunch of people.
ReplyDeleteBob said on his blog that someone of importance in that school district said they would not be teaching Holocaust denial. At the teachers' meeting, however, the teachers asked how they could possibly teach the other side of the Holocaust. The woman running the meeting said, Believe me. It's come up.
DeleteSo more discussion of it between administrators went on than we are led to believe.
My cousins are much like you...they live in Texas and have had it!!! They moved there initially to take care of her ill mother and a brother, but they have since passed years ago. They said they are surrounded by idiots and have since started the process to moved back northeast. They were from Brooklyn. I suspect Florida is becoming much the same. I could at least visit Flordia...but have never been and will never step foot in Texas. I'm only surprised they haven't yet told their citizens what day of the week to take a shit yet.
ReplyDeleteI think I could go to Austin, Texas. I visited there once and had a dandy time. My dear friend who lives in Dallas said Ted Cruz and a lot of other people ran as moderates and then showed their true colors.
DeleteA well written account of the madness that is going on there. How these people (Abbott, Cruz and their ilk) ever get elected is beyond my realm of comprehension. As you point out, however, DeSantis is cut from the same cloth. Full out fascism is right around the corner.
ReplyDeleteThe full out fascism is exactly what I fear. One ray of hope for me is that DeSantis has made such a fool of himself that he might not be re-elected. He barely won before.
DeleteAnd Texas, teach both sides of the crucifixion while you're at it!
ReplyDeleteNo kidding. So many of the people there long for Bibles in school. They're always saying that all the bad behavior from kids arose from prayer being taken out of schools. Give me a break.
DeleteTerrifyng, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteAre they prepared to mention the opposing views of the bible then and Jesus? Teach a little satanism, for example? Fair is fair.
Teaching opposing views is lke teaching nothing at all.
I like your last statement. You're right: It's not teaching. Some of the people in Texas probably believe already that their kids are learning satanism in school.
DeleteFirst you have to teach children to assess the arguments posed before you can teach both sides (if indeed there are two sides to the truth). Raul Hilberg's Destruction of the European Jews is a fascinating and horrifying history of what happened. Then there is Viktor Klemperer's diaries of living through the Nazi period as a Christian Jew.
DeleteExcellent point, Helen.
DeleteFlorida has always seemed to lead the nation in strangeness, but I agree -- Texas has us beat for downright stupidity. There is no "other side" to a fact, except a lie.
ReplyDeleteBut what about alternative facts? I'll never forget those words coming out of the mouth of Kellyanne Conway.
DeleteOh No! Politics! lol
ReplyDeleteI miss Florida so much. I get homesick for the rustling sound the palm trees make. I keep thinking I will go back there someday but that might not happen at this stage of life. Enjoy the sunshine! xo Diana
I delve into politics occasionally, and almost always with a sarcastic edge. I miss Maryland. I loved living there, but Florida will probably be my home for the rest of my life.
DeleteUnbelievable! 😡 And also, that whole issue about abortions...😲
ReplyDeleteI know. Making it so difficult to get an abortion is unconstitutional, but trump managed to appoint 3 idiots to the supreme court.
DeleteAmen!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're pleased.
DeleteAs a certain doctor named Phil says there are two sides to everything or a pancake
ReplyDeleteThe most repulsive thing about this is, if they have to teach an opposing view of the Holocaust, wouldn't it be that the Jews were evil and deserved to be exterminated? That's what the Germans thought.
ReplyDeleteAnd we still have plenty of Americans who feel the same way, which sickens me.
DeleteWe are so far behind the world in education we could throw in the towel and stay in almost last place.
ReplyDeleteEducation in the US is in a sad state, and the system has become even worse with the onslaught of the pandemic.
DeleteHi, Janie! I am so glad that I live in Colorado. I couldn't handle Texas or Florida. Ted Cruz is almost as bad as it comes, and I am ashamed that he was born in Calgary. When I was earning my Masters, I locked heads with a professor who was highly placed in my district. I said Hitler was evil; she said he broke laws. I was gobsmacked! I don't think I could survive as a teacher today. Have a happy and fulfilling week!
ReplyDeleteCruz was born in Canada but he's nothing like the lovely people of Canada with whom I communicate. I grew up in Topeka, Kansas. It's embarrassing to be from the city that's known for Westboro "Baptist Church."
DeleteWhy did I think you lived in Las Vegas? Anyhoo my deepest, most sincere condolences that DeSantis is your governor. He's so busy trying to impress the orange loser that he's lost all sense of what is right or wrong.
ReplyDeleteVegas is one place I've never visited. I appreciate your sympathy.
DeleteLooking on from Australia (a lot of us have been watching on intently the last few years) I think one has to hand the prize for stupid to that chinless wonder Ted Clutz. Don't forget this gold video of his staged family video:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO_MkcZh-VY
"I'm the crazy radical socialist snowflake libtard feminazi side of Florida"
... thumbs up. FLA needs more of that.
The video is hilarious, but it certainly reveals a lot. What a sickening family.
DeleteDifficult to get any worse than Ted Cruz. This is just great news! Now they will have to teach that Black/Brown is better than White!
ReplyDeleteThat will never happen in Texas.
DeleteSnowflake to snowflake my mind just can not comprehend the stupidity of people. It enrages me! I am very thankful to live in a blue state but my town has red tendencies and they aggravate me to no end.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I live in a county that went for Biden.
DeleteOldest went to a Halloween party this weekend. He went as Clark Kent. His friend went as "Florida Man".
ReplyDeleteI lived in Dania Beach for 7 years. I never considered myself a Florida person. Florida people are a special breed. I suspect you feel "out of p0lace" with your views because of where you are in FLA, if you headed south and east, you'd find many more of your people.
Sadly, there's not enough of them to vote ol' Ron out, but they are there.
Florida Man! That's funny. Ron might get voted out. He barely won election and now that people are seeing him run around the country trying to start a presidential campaign they think Charlie Crist looks pretty good.
DeleteHmmm. My comment didn't register. I'm wondering if the opposing view of the Holocaust is the one the Nazis held? Making Texas teachers Nazi sympathizers? Reminds me of the time I heard a biology teacher in a Catholic school say she "teaches the controversy" about evolution...
ReplyDeleteYour comments are here, my dear. I have comment moderation turned on, so comments don't show up until I approve them.
DeleteThis is a test of the emergency commenting system.
ReplyDeleteI'm unfortunately not smart enough to comment with an opinion on this, but I have a real life example to share.
ReplyDeleteTen years ago I took a class called The Holocaust in college. It was taught by a Rabbi who had direct connections with the Holocaust. He often brought in a family friend who was a prisoner in a concentration camp to talk to us and answer questions. Both the Rabbi and the special guest started their lessons with the opposing side's view. Mid term we had to write a paper on the Nazi view of the Holocaust. Why? Because they felt it was important for us to know how such an inhumane catastrophe occurred otherwise they feared it could happen again. To this day, I remember this class the clearest out of every college course I ever took. What resonates the most for me is how common, every day people allowed it to happen or, worse, supported it on some level.
For background- I'm from Long Island, NY (born & raised) & an accounting major so I'm way out of my comfort zone with this comment.
That's very interesting. I don't see any harm in learning about anti-Semitism and its effects. The problem would lie in presenting Holocaust denial as a valid point of view.
DeleteI don't know how anyone can deny that it happened!
Delete"Opposing sides of the Holocaust" can only mean teaching that it happened and also that it didn't. As a child of a sole survivor of the cold-blooded annihilations of a third of European Jewry, I can testify it happened because I know many of the first-hand witnesses personally and know their truthfulness.
ReplyDeleteHumans have much to be ashamed of, and this latest nonsense is just adding to what we'll have to atone for.
It's heartbreaking to know that we have people in the world and in our own country who believe the Shoah did not occur in spite of all the evidence.
DeleteI've lived in Florida since '92 and have been embarrassed by Florida A LOT. This year, Florida and Texas have certainly been trying to out due each other in the worst possible ways imaginable. Thank you for bringing light to this on your blog.
ReplyDeleteHow kind you are, Chrys. Florida and Texas are a mess.
DeleteThere are only 2 cities in Fla. that are not deep Red: Gainesville and Tallahassee. Coincidentally, 2 major universities are located there and they are the highest educated cities in the state. However, the Koch Bros. are giving lots of money to the U's to hire far-right, Conservative professors. Fla.'s new Surgeon General is a KOOK who follows DeSantis and Trump philosophy. It always comes down to the Money.
ReplyDeleteMy county, Duval, went for Biden. I was grateful for that. I wish we could change some other counties to blue.
DeleteThe crap coming from Texas is like everything else supposedly is in Texas - the biggest in existence ... I'm glad to hear that some teachers at least were unsettled by this and willing to push back. It must be hellish to live surrounded by this stuff and feel outnumbered.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's very hard on people who think the way I do. When I lived in Illinois, I was surrounded by people who were very conservative. I'm glad I wasn't there during Trump's rise to power. They must have loved him and still do.
Delete