How did we miss this gem?
Buried on page 62 of phony history “expert” David Barton’s 87-page review of the social studies draft curriculum standards is a short section calling for the following revision to the eighth-grade American History requirements:
(C) analyze reasons for and the impact of selected examples of civil disobedience in U.S. history such as the Boston Tea Party, Shay’s Rebellion, Henry David Thoreau’s refusal to pay a tax, the Underground Railroad, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Rosa Parks at the lunch counter. (Emphasis added.)
Ah, yes. Every child should hear the archetypal story of American civil disobedience — an exhausted Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat and move the back of the bus lunch counter.
*Sigh*
This would be funny if members of the Texas State Board of Education weren’t so “impressed with David Barton’s command of history,” to quote Don McLeroy from last month’s board hearing.
It was a bus, David. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. And her action sparked the Montgomery bus boycott.
That’s probably the sort of error that would be corrected if one were writing for a peer-reviewed journal, but of course, Barton wouldn’t know anything about that. Why subject yourself to the hassle when you can self-publish books and videos and pretend to be an “expert”?
And for the record, this wasn’t just a slip of the tongue. Barton actually makes this mistake TWICE on the same page of his review:
Numerous examples show that civil disobedience has played a prominent role in initiating numerous changes throughout American history, including thorough the Boston Tea Party, Shay’s Rebellion, the Underground Railroad, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks at the lunch counter, etc. (Emphasis added.)
(Thanks to the eagle-eyed Dena Sher at Americans United for Separation of Church and State for spotting this Barton-ism.)
