Here’s just one story of how the schools are being invaded by racist cranks and conspiracy theorists.
This is Stephen Balch.
He’s a conspiracy theorist who called Biden’s election a “literal coup” and pushes White Replacement Theory.
The Texas State Board of Education just picked him to revise our social studies standards. The Big Lie is coming to a textbook near you.
Balch is a former professor who claims the 2020 election was stolen. He urged Trump to “lead his followers into America’s streets” and “stretch institutional bonds.”
He shouldn’t be anywhere near our social studies standards.
Balch has espoused White Replacement Theory, a white nationalist ideology that says immigration policies are designed to replace white people. Balch said Biden has “thrown open” the border as part of “a larger project to transform our civic order through demographic change.”
Balch also called the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage an “attack on our constitutional system of government”. So he’s also willing to “stretch institutional bonds” to protect heteropatriarchy in addition to white supremacy.
Balch has already recommended changing our standards to:
-Erase Mexican-Americans deported during the Great Depression
-Replace “mass incarceration” with “high incarceration rates.”Putting a positive spin on mass incarceration & racist deportations is historical whitewashing.
This appointment comes just months after Republicans passed a historical whitewashing bill to limit discussions of race in schools. Their “critical race theory” bill removed the language I wrote requiring students learn “the history of white supremacy.”
But that wasn’t enough to keep students from learning the truth about our history. So Texas Republicans launched a partisan investigation to intimidate school librarians and ban books that discuss race and sexuality. From muzzling teachers to banning books, schools are the frontline in the fight for democracy.
The alt-right learned Orwell’s lesson: who controls the past controls the future. The future of pluralistic democracy is imperiled when people like Stephen Balch whitewash the past.
Thank you to the activists at @TFN who brought this story to light.
I’m calling on my colleagues—on both sides of the aisle—to join me in demanding the State Board of Education remove Stephen Balch from his advisory role immediately.Political views should not determine one’s eligibility to advise the State Board of Education. Conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between should be included.
But Stephen Balch’s views are not conservative— they’re un-American.
Originally tweeted by James Talarico (@jamestalarico) on January 27, 2022.
They are literally trying to put a white supremacist in charge pf school curriculum. And I’ll bet he’s not the only one.