Fox&Friends “Historian” Larry Schweikart Says High School Texts Need More Reagan And Jesus Christ
Reported by Priscilla - February 18, 2009 -
Last week’s edition (February 11th) of the Larry Schweikart propanda show was still more of the same. Former weather guy Steve Doocy introduced the segment by saying that “we’re on a mission to call out textbooks our kids use… that are filled with inaccuracies and perhaps some have generalized liberal lies.” There is some irony here in that the generalizations are all based on a few examples which might have been taken out of context and Larry Schweikart’s (University of Dayton) say so. Once again, Larry was flying solo – so much for “fair and balanced.”
The first “liberal lie,” in “American History” was that “the book does not mention the words church, Christian, Christianity or Jesus Christ but has 75 mentions of the terms diversity tolerance bias.” Now that’s interesting because the state of Utah utilizes this text in its core curriculum and the chapter outline includes this description of lesson objective: “Investigate the social reasons behind exploration; e.g.,spreading ideas and beliefs, seeking religious freedoms.” There was also a chapter on the Puritans so it’s a little difficult to believe that there was no mention of church. How Jesus Christ (and if a text is being marketed for non Christian students, the prefix “Christ,” after Jesus, would be inappropriate) factors into this is beyond me; but whatever…The chyron for this segment was “common myths learned in school.” Schweikart mentioned that this book was up for adoption in St. Louis. This means that the school committee is reviewing it for acceptance. Obviously parents can’t “boycott” publishers so is Fox News trying, on the biased commentary of a right wing professor, to influence the selection of textbooks? Interesting. The next book was cited three times for bad behavior. The mortal sin of “The American Journey” was, according to Schweikart, not mentioning Ronald Reagan in the chapter about the cold war because, according to Schweikart, “these guys hate Ronald Reagan.” Schweikart cited another chapter which stated that, during the American occupation of the Philippines, white American soldiers looked down on Fillipinos and that African American troops deserted. He said that this has “terrible implications that aren’t true” because the of “implications that our soldiers are racist or unreliable deserters.” His comment that “we won the occupation by winning the minds and hearts of Fillipinos,” was truly mind boggling. The chyon read “liberal ideology taught in US classrooms.” Professor Schweikart’s views could be challenged. In The book, “African-American Soldiers and Filipinos: Racial Imperialism, Jim Crow and Social Relations,” by Scot Ngozi-Brown, the author states that “white Americans characterized Filipinos as inferior, inept, and even sub-human.” Another book, “Desertion and the American Soldier, 1776-2006” states that, in the Phillipines, a “disoproprotionate number of African Americans deserted and joined the Filipinos, often feeling a close bond to their cause.” But Schweikart isn’t challenged and that’s why this propaganda (if not downright misinformation) is so insideous. Schweikart’s whitewash of racism and rosy view of history is quite troubling. The chyron for this segment was “liberal ideology taught in US classrooms.” The last piece (third hit for American Journey) was accompanied by the chyron, “teaching propaganda - controversy over errors and bias in books.” The book graphic read “Before federal regulations were established for food and drugs… popular children’s medicines contained opium cocaine and alchohol.” Schweikart admitted that this was true; but the book’s “implication is that at the time there was something wrong with this medicine.” Huh?
Comment: “Teaching Propaganda?” Isn’t that what Larry Schweikart is doing on a weekly basis on Fox&Friends?
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