Tennessee Tea Parties demand textbooks contain no mean things about Founding Fathers

[The Straight Story]

Tennessee Tea Parties demand textbooks contain no mean things about Founding Fathers

For a bunch of people who worship the Founders and like to play dress-up American Revolutionary War, Tea Partyers sure hate knowing anything remotely reality-based about the Founding Fathers. Tennessee Tea Party groups have introduced a proposal to take what few minorities there are in American history textbooks out of American history textbooks, along with any negative portrayals of the wealthy white men who led this young nation in its infancy.

At a press conference, two dozen activists presented their proposals -- I'm sorry, their "demands" -- for the new state legislative session. Among them are sweeping changes to school materials that they probably have not actually read.

Take it away, awful person:

The material calls for lawmakers to amend state laws governing school curriculums, and for textbook selection criteria to say that “No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership."

Fayette County attorney Hal Rounds, the group's lead spokesman during the news conference, said the group wants to address "an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another."

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/13/founding_fathers_tennessee_tea_party/index.html

[WillParkinson]

1. So, in other words...

Don't tell the truth?

[CLANG]

3. Didn't Hitler have all the textbooks changed too?

[spanone]

2. tennessee is on a fast track to the dark ages

i know i'm a resident

[Kalyke]

4. Me, too.

You'd think our citizens would figure this out.

[Fuzz]

5. Turn them into saints or Jesus himself?

good grief.

[Kalyke]

6. First I've heard about this and I live here.

But I did find the original story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/jan/13/tea-parties-cite-legislative-demands/

And, from a quick glance at the comments, it seems most readers hate the idea that the Tea Party would have any influence in our legislature.

Maybe people ARE waking up.

[bluestateguy]

7. That's what all white private academies are for in the South

Send your kids there if that's the kind of education you want for them.

[asjr]

8. They must change their name to

TN Redneck Moonshine Party.

[The Magistrate]

9. Jesus, Sir, This Really Is Not An 'Onion' Report

You will understand my inability to be sure it was fact before tracing the thing all the way to the Memphis Commercial Appeal article on the matter....