OAH Executive Board Joins with Objections to Mexican American Studies Textbook

OAH President Nancy Cott, on behalf of the OAH Executive Board, has joined with other scholars, concerned citizens, and the American Historical Association to raise objections to the proposed Mexican American Studies textbook under consideration by the Texas State Board of Education. Her letter can be read here. The textbook, proposed in response to activist efforts to include Mexican American studies as part of the Texas history curriculum, has come under fire from teachers, activists, law makers, and scholars. An Ad Hoc Committee convened by the Texas Board of Education as part of a customary review process submitted its 54-page “Report on a Proposed Social Studies Special Topic Textbook, Mexican American Heritage,” on September 6, which details the numerous factual inaccuracies and offensive stereotypes found in the text. If the Texas State Board of Education agrees that there are errors, the publisher, Momentum Instruction, will be given an opportunity to address them prior to the board vote. The Texas State Board of Education will decide after the election in November whether the textbook will be adopted for the 2017–2018 school year.