25 Years Ago Today: Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall.

Four Words that Changed the World Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas General Secretary Gorbachev if you seek peace if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe if you seek liberalization come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall. On June 12 1987 Ronald Reagan stood in front of the Berlin Wall and delivered a speech with the Brandenburg Gate the historic ceremonial entrance to the city rising behind him. The president of the United States issued a challenge to the leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Today as Part IV in our Continuing Series read Bill Ames first-hand story of how radical Texas history teachers rejected  Reagans Tear Down This Wall" speech when as it was proposed for inclusion as part of Texas U.S. history curriculum.   TEXAS TROUNCES THE LEFTS WAR ON HISTORY: Part IV in our Continuing Series Book Documents the Battle:  Radical Texas history teachers rejected President Reagans Tear Down This Wall" speech proposal for U.S. history curriculum By Bill Ames Twenty-five years ago today on June 12 1987 President Ronald Reagan delivered one of the most moving speeches in the history of the United States. Last week the Wall Street Journal celebrated the event with an Opinion piece Four Words that Moved the World: Tear Down This Wall".  From the June 9-10 WSJ written by Peter Robinson:

On June 12 1987 Ronald Reagan delivered a speech in Berlin. Standing in front of the Berlin Wall with the Brandenburg Gate the historic ceremonial entrance to the city rising behind him the president of the United States issued a challenge to the leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. General Secretary Gorbachev if you seek peace if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe if you seek liberalization come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall.

Reset the clock to 2009.  In January I had been appointed as a member of a U.S. history review panel to review and revise the ten-year-old standards for that 11^th grade history course in Texas public schools. I was the only conservative and the only non-educator on the panel.  My eight colleagues on the panel were educators varying from left of center to having full contempt for America. During our meetings I was consistently outvoted 8 to 1 on the issues I considered important. Nevertheless during our July and September meetings I proposed a student expectation to be added to the citizenship" section of the history standard.

I suggested that we include some of historys great speeches: John F. Kennedys We choose to go the moon"; Ronald Reagans Tear down this wall"; Martin Luther Kings I have a dream"; and Charlton Hestons Culture war". 

My suggestion was twice rejected by the review panel.  The group had no interest in including historical events that create a feel good" attitude towards America.  Rather their agenda was to paint America as an oppressive exploitative imperialist and racist country.  They desired to indoctrinate Texas students that there is no social justice" that opportunity for all does not exist that ordinary citizens are all victims" and therefore a socialist/Marxist form of government is the answer. During 2009 the same review panel also rejected the inclusion of the Founding Documents the Judeo-Christian underpinnings of those documents and the notion of American Exceptionalism.  These were added in later as Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) conservatives amended the negative view of history to create the positive view that was adopted in May 2010. Such skirmishes are only indicative of the many actions by the U.S. history  review panel during their February July and September 2009 meetings.  It was an uphill frustrating battle for me and nearly impossible to get any conservative balancing content into the document.  The review panels majority agenda remained firm: Paint Americas story as negatively as possible.  But in 2010 the proposed standards were amended.  In doing so SBOE conservatives and their grassroots mainstream Texas supporters influenced the culture in Texas public schools.  For now we have trounced the lefts war on history.  But we need to continue to pay attention.  The left never gives up.  My new book TEXAS TROUNCES THE LEFTS WAR ON HISTORY covers the story described above and concludes with some ideas about what we as citizens can do to influence public education. Bill Ames is an education activist who lives in Dallas. He has worked on Texas curriculum and textbook issues beginning in 2001. He spent much of 2009 as a member of the review panel for U. S. history. Ames book TEXAS TROUNCES THE LEFTS WAR ON HISTORY is available for review and purchase at www.WNAenterprises.com.