The Office of Redundancy
We seem to be doing this a lot lately, so I thought I would try this from another angle. It seems the governor and others are determined to shove character education down our throats. Character education is only one way to put it. Another way to put it is white washing. Another way to put it is indoctrination. However, the most accurate way to put it is to call it what it really is: an empty gesture.
Of course, the governor couldn’t resist the urge to pump himself up.ss
To keep Texas the best state in the nation, we can never forget WHY our state is so exceptional.
I signed a law establishing the 1836 project, which promotes patriotic education & ensures future generations understand TX values.
Together, we'll keep our rich history alive. pic.twitter.com/4yZuygS2yX
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 7, 2021
So, we could take this from a few angles, but I decided to take a look at the source. If you take a look at the list of priorities you’ll see that we are currently teaching those things. Sure, you’ve added a few awards and what not, but I’m struggling to figure out what the point is. I’m sure the governor is already aware, but maybe he’s not. We teach Texas history to 7th graders. Maybe he’s suggesting we do more, but it doesn’t seem clear by the verbiage of the bill.
Like I said before, we could conceivably approach this from numerous angles. Sure, we could look at the likely desire to remove unsavory facts from the historical account. However, let’s assume the very best and only look at the letter of the law. They want to assure that we are doing something we’re already doing. What’s the purpose of that exactly?
When you abandon your ideology I’m not sure what you have left. Some people are dedicated to the idea of limited government. They don’t want the government involved unless absolutely necessary. It is a philosophy I’ve always respected. I’ve always disagreed but I’ve always respected it. When you abandon that philosophy and fill it with empty gestures you’ve abandoned that philosophy for good public relations. Congratulations.
Judas sold his soul for some pieces of silver. The governor appears to be selling his for a simple photo opp. He can’t even come up with an original name for this fiasco. His hero dubbed character education as the 1776 project. Just adopt the year we gained our independence and pass a quick law. Throw in a black guy into the picture to make it look good. The law really won’t change anything. It’s a great use of our time and money.
Like J.R.Ewing said, “once you give up your integrity everything else is a piece of cake”.
1Speaking of Texas history, I just ordered the book, Forget the Alamo. It tells the true story. One most of us figured out in the 7th grade. That war with Mexico was all about keeping slaves. Ol Moses or Stephen didn’t do what Spain, then Mexico had in the agreement. Not only were there few surveys, many settlers had slaves.
I had to stop at “best state in the nation.” I really looked but I couldn’t find TX at #1 in any ranking- education, health, economy…https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings. Not even land area any more.
2True Lazygrl, but I’m not that upset about that. Every governor does that. It’s not like they are going to go to the podium and brag about being the 37th best state in the union. The chants of “we’re better than Mississippi” just don’t have the same ring to them.
I suppose the difference is between the quick lipservice and the actual waste of tax payer dollars to say the same. As for the obvious omission of slavery, I can assure the governor most Texas history teachers are omitting that already, so he doesn’t need a law to get teachers to overlook that. The ones that are currently including that aren’t the type of pay attention to what heavy handed governors and legislatures tell them to teach anyway.
3I can’t say Texas history classes have ever been that great in public school – I was an adult before I realized that Santa Ana didn’t die at San Jacinto. Chris Tomlinson and Bryan Burroughs have a book coming out today called Forget the Alamo; I’ve got it on order at the library and it should be insightful.
4A great use of the legislative process. I’m sure this new law will come in very handy the next time our electrical grid crashes.
5As long as they teach that the original deal under which Mexico allowed settlers in 1821 stipulated:
1-loyalty to Mexico
2-conversion to Catholicism
3-only food crops could be grown
4-NO SLAVERY, because Mexican Constitution of 1810 prohibited it.
By 1836, the colonists had broken all of their commitments because free land and slaves = mucho $$$.
6~“I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God. I’ve seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. And goodness – what God desires – is here [points to Balian’s head] and here [points to Balian’s heart] and by what you decide to do every day,
you will be a good man… ~ or not.”
~ Hospitaller
Kingdom of Heaven * Wikiquote
7Who are the 2 simpletons sitting on either side of Abbott? In my view, I wouldn’t let any young children or small barnyard animals around either one of them!
8Robert Pierce @6 pretty well summarizes how Mexico stipulated the requirements that new colonists like Austin were legally bound to follow.
Those colonists promptly set about circumventing most of what they had agreed to. The Mexican government couldn’t effectively enforce the laws in the remote province of Tejas, so things went downhill from the Mexican viewpoint.
The Mexicans then attempted to close their borders and halt any further immigration [ironically, in light of today’s situation], and crack down on the colonists. That set off the chain of events leading to Texas the new independent nation, short-lived as it was.
[A former major Camino Real that was used by both sides of the Alamo actions passes over part of my property]
.
9Our local ISD began implementing a program of “Character Education” over twenty years ago, when my kids were in grade/middle school. I was quite suspicious of it as it was coming from some shadowy outside sources. This district began blurring the ‘separation of church and state’ lines long ago.
Now we have a fundie preacher just appointed to the school board. And the husband of one of the district VP’s had a frontpage writeup in the local RW rag about his ‘wonderful adventure’ in Washington DC on January 6th…
[My kids graduated at the top of their classes, but were very eager to get away, and have never looked back [can’t even get them interested in attending a football game]. They made ‘Summa Cum Laude’ in uni, and went on to grad degrees, so they got something out of it.]
“They want to assure that we are doing something we’re already doing. What’s the purpose of that exactly”
I’d wager the writer meant what’s the *stated* purpose, because I think we all know the actual purpose: REELECTION!
; p
10Frank@8, it’s usually good entertainment to watch the peacock flankers position themselves for reflected glory. They give the term “Stuffed Suits” a bad name.
111836, the first year that TX committed treason in defense of slavery.
Interesting thing about the Alamo museum, I could find only one, very brief, reference to slavery, as an issue, in the revolt against Mexico. it’s as though they’d just kind of prefer you didn’t know that.
12I think the tweet has a small error … it says:
“our rich history”
I think they actually want to focus on the history of the rich.
13As an honest to God descendant of several of the Old One Hundred, I naturally have had more than a passing interest in this subject. I’ve lived all over the US (and a 3 year stint in Bermuda courtesy of my Air Force dad), but my current residence in Virginia is less than 30 minutes from ol’ Stephen’s birthplace (a bump in the road called Austinville).
14I never went to school in Texas so my formal history education was pretty generic. Trips to visit relatives in San Antonio included at least one Alamo outing and I even have 8mm film footage to prove it.
Both Mexico and the settlers benefited from that deal. My relatives got free land (and a lot of current counties are named for them), and Mexico got a nice buffer of Anglos between the Rio Grande and Commanche territory. I’m sure the Commanche appreciated not having to travel so far for their raids, too.
Since the bulk of the Old One Hundred were recruited from Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas, hell, yeah, they brought their slaves. They were also God fearing, fundy Christians during the time of the Great Awakening, and probably never even met a Catholic. Andrew Jackson was President of the US, and you know what a hell raiser he was. Same stock as my ancestors, so of course they ignored the terms of the original contract.
DaddyWasATexan @14, You mean the “Old Three Hundred” of course.
Empresario Austin’s 297 Anglo-American colonists, who settled a large Spanish/Mexican government land grant in the Mexican province of Coahuila y Tejas, west of what is now Houston [between the Brazos and Colorado, Gulf to the Old San Antonio Road].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Three_Hundred
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empresario
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Revolution
“In 1829, Mexico abolished slavery, which affected the Anglo-American settlers’ quest for wealth in building colonizations worked by enslaved Africans. They lobbied the Mexican government for a reversal of the ban and gained only a one-year extension to settle their affairs and free their bonded workers – the government refused to legalize slavery. The settlers decided to secede from Mexico, initiating the famous and mythologized Battle of the Alamo in 1836.[11]”
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