Last week's preliminary decision by the Texas Board of Education to rewrite US history to fit right-wing ideology has some academics all worked up, saying "it's not a partisan issue, it's a good history issue."

According to the Washington Post, historians are particularly upset over the following proposals:

Discussions ranged from whether President Reagan should get more attention (yes), whether hip-hop should be included as part of lessons on American culture (no), and whether President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis's inaugural address should be studied alongside Abraham Lincoln's (yes).

Of particular contention was the requirement that lessons on McCarthyism note that "the later release of the Venona Papers confirmed suspicions of communist infiltration in U.S. government."

Paul S. Boyer, emeritus professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, told the Post:

"I'm made uncomfortable by mandates of this kind for sure."

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