Shirley Chisholm ‘Reduced To A Single Footnote’ As Florida State University Removes ‘Racism’ From Sociology Textbook
As part of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's effort to end “woke ideology,” the state's higher education board “censored” a sociology textbook by removing an entire chapter on race and ethnicity, and references to Trayvon Martin and the BLM movement. The post Shirley Chisholm ‘Reduced To A Single Footnote’ As Florida State University Removes ‘Racism’ From Sociology Textbook appeared first on MadameNoire.
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The Florida Board of Governors recently approved a revised version of the general education sociology textbook Introduction to Sociology, which is required reading for introductory sociology courses at Florida State University.
However, these so-called “edits” are raising major red flags for many folks, including educators, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, myself, and anyone with a remotely discerning eye.
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On Feb. 18, the United Faculty of Florida held a webinar urging college faculty to push back against the state’s efforts to censor introductory sociology courses following the release of a state‑approved syllabus and the edited version of Introduction to Sociology, which removes from the curriculum important discussions on race, gender, class, and inequality.
As part of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s long-standing effort to eliminate what he calls “woke ideology” from higher education, more than half of the book’s original content has been removed, dwindling it down from 669 pages to 267, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
These changes involve eliminating four entire chapters, including one on race and ethnicity and another on the government-sanctioned genocide of Native Americans, while some new material has been added. In the original book, which was a free, “open” textbook written by 13 contributing authors from colleges across the country, the term “racism” appeared 115 times. However, it is only mentioned six times in the new version, according to the faculty union.
During the webinar, one instructor pointed out multiple typos throughout the text, which they said show how quickly it was compiled and distributed without proper review. If taking the time to use a simple tool like spell check was not prioritized, what are we to think of how thoroughly this new text was fact-checked, if it was at all? The addition of “new material” is particularly concerning with respect to truth and transparency.
Professors said they were told by university administrators that the textbook was cut to comply with a 2023 state law prohibiting general education college courses that “distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics.”
The post Shirley Chisholm ‘Reduced To A Single Footnote’ As Florida State University Removes ‘Racism’ From Sociology Textbook appeared first on MadameNoire.
