Of all the stupidities in the new Texas social studies curriculum, this is probably the most telling:
Rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop: Students will have to study a list of influential musical and cultural movements in America that includes rock ‘n’ roll, Tin Pan Alley, country music and the Beat generation. Social conservatives beat back an effort to include hip-hop music after some members complained that its often-crude lyrics are inappropriate for students.
It’s one level of power to slant history towards conservative icons like Joe McCarthy. It’s quite another to remove a touchstone like this from a history textbook.
Any kid with a decent bullshit detector is going to be appropriately skeptical about, and ultimately alienated by, a book that doesn’t include a mention of the music he or she hears every day. Though I’m sure that alienating minorities wasn’t the main goal of the Texas State Board of Education, it’s certainly a welcome additional benefit.