There's an interesting new book out from the US about the (self) censorship that takes place with textbooks in an effort not to offend anybody (and therefore not lose any potential sales). The book is called The Language Police. The following is not a parody...unfortunately. Here's a part of a review--the committee they talk about was made up of counselors, diversity experts, etc:
"The committee flagged many seemingly innocuous passages gathered by the Board as potentially offensive or biased: an essay on peanuts because some children are allergic to peanuts; a biography of the designer of the Mount Rushmore monument because the site is considered sacred by some Native Americans; a legend about dolphins because it reflects a regional bias against children who don't live near the sea; an inspirational story about a blind mountain climber because it suggests that a blind person might find it harder to climb a mountain than a sighted one. The examples go on. Even Aesop's fable, "The Fox and the Crow", was flagged as sexist because a male fox flatters a female crow; to gain approval, the gender of the animals had to be changed. The review committee also gave the Board a list of topics to be avoided. These included abortion, evolution, expensive consumer goods, magic, personal appearance, politics, religion, unemployment, unsafe situations, weapons and violence -- among others."
In the midst of this huge heap of ridiculousness, the bit I highlighted strikes me as the most ridiculous...so now having kids read about something with which they may not be personally familiar is discrimination? I think we used to call it "learning." We were so insensitive!
