By Fred Jackson
Conservative youth are being urged to be more aware of the liberal bias in college textbooks — and to challenge the views of their professors.
Young conservatives from across the nation this past July in Washington to get advice on how to stay alert and be bold in a very liberal society. Cybercast News reports one of the key speakers was author and American history professor Burt Folsom.
Folsom talked to the delegates about the problem of economic and religious bias in college textbooks. He said although Christianity is a significant theme in American history, it is “tremendously neglected” in the textbooks. And with regard to economic history, Folsom discussed how authors incorporate their own views to present a one-sided notion of the issue discussed.
As an example, he referenced the high school textbook American Odyssey by Gary Nash. Folsom said in addressing Ronald Reagan's tax cuts of the 1980s, Nash used class warfare rhetoric to describe the tax relief — without mentioning their benefits to the overall economy, including higher treasury revenues.
In another example, he cited a picture caption in the college textbook The National Experience — a book that has gone through eight editions over 30 years. The caption beneath a picture of President Grover Cleveland stated: “Grover Cleveland: Stubborn Conservative.” Elsewhere in the same textbook, a caption under a photo of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro read: “Fidel Castro: A Romantic Marxist.”
(This article courtesy of Agape Press).
