THE RIGHT BOOKS

An American social-studies text in current use devotes thirty pages to the Pilgrims, in which the observation of the first Thanksgiving is described. However, the book includes not one word or image identifying religion as the mainspring of Puritan New England, thereby making possible the confusion of the student who returned home to explain to his mother that “Thanksgiving was when the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians.” The woman called the principal of the school (located in a suburb of New York City) and reminded him that Thanksgiving is the occasion chosen by the Pilgrims for thanking God. He replied that “that was her opinion,” and schools must confine themselves to teaching what is in the books.

In 1983, Paul C. Vitz, a professor of psychology at New York University, systematically examined ninety widely used elementary-school socialstudies and high-school history texts, together with an assortment of elementary-school readers, with the intention of discovering to what degree —if any—they exhibited bias and censorship. He concluded the technical report in 1985 and proceeded to develop it into a book, recently published as Censorship: Evidence of Bias in Our Children’s Textbooks (Servant Books, P. O. Box 8617, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48107; $6.95). I read it in a couple of hours on the afternoon of December 25, the day some Americans, Mexicans, Italians, and Others give thanks to the ancient Hebrews for inventing the Happy Holidays.

CW

About the Author

Chilton Williamson Jr.

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An American social-studies text in current use devotes thirty pages to the Pilgrims, in which the observation of the first Thanksgiving is described. However, the book includes not one word or image identifying religion as the mainspring of Puritan New England, thereby making possible the confusion of the student who returned home to explain to his mother that “Thanksgiving was when the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians.” The woman called the principal of the school (located in a suburb of New York City) and reminded him that Thanksgiving is the occasion chosen by the Pilgrims for thanking God. He replied that “that was her opinion,” and schools must confine themselves to teaching what is in the books.

In 1983, Paul C. Vitz, a professor of psychology at New York University, systematically examined ninety widely used elementary-school socialstudies and high-school history texts, together with an assortment of elementary-school readers, with the intention of discovering to what degree —if any—they exhibited bias and censorship. He concluded the technical report in 1985 and proceeded to develop it into a book, recently published as Censorship: Evidence of Bias in Our Children’s Textbooks (Servant Books, P. O. Box 8617, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48107; $6.95). I read it in a couple of hours on the afternoon of December 25, the day some Americans, Mexicans, Italians, and Others give thanks to the ancient Hebrews for inventing the Happy Holidays.