I’ve often railed against the sheer stupidity of the trend towards “political correctness” in this country, but this latest example is just too much. Fox News reports that the “textbook review process in California has changed or eliminated references to everything from the Founding Fathers to hot dogs, leaving many to charge the state with distorting history in the name of political correctness.”
Why no pictures of hot dogs, you may ask? “That’s because…hot dogs, sodas, cakes, butter and other kinds of food that are not considered nutritious.” Mount Rushmore will not be in any texbook, “because it appears to offend some American-Indian groups.” Senior citizens are now “older persons,” “jungle” is now “rain forest,” and apparently the devil doesn’t exist at all anymore.
This is by far the most ludicrous example of censorship in the name of avoiding even the appearance of offending someone. I think this passage is right on the money:
“It’s outright censorship,” said author Diane Ravitch, who has written extensively on the subject of how the nation’s schools have dealt with the issue. “It dumbs down our textbooks, makes them bland, far less interesting than anything children might see in the movies – even in G-rated movies or TV.”
It’s quite obvious that California school officials are totally unaware of how ignorant this makes them look. I hope that someone gets their head out of their ass and reconsiders before a generation of children’s minds are tainted with this stupidity.
