California rejects books inimical to Jews, Hindus

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Panel Rejects Texts Over Religious Bias

 

by Sue Fishkoff, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

 

http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=14790

 

 

 

 

In a surprise move, an advisory body to the California Board of

Education rejected a sixth-grade history program that Hindu and

Jewish groups blasted as biased, erroneous and culturally derogatory.

 

During a two-day late September hearing before the state's Curriculum

Development and Supplemental Materials Commission, Jewish critics

lambasted the Oxford University Press textbook and related materials

for subjecting early Jewish history to a more rigid standard of proof

than Christian or Muslim history, for including stories that have

traditionally fomented anti-Semitism and for misstating key concepts

of Judaism, presenting it as a religion of reward and punishment,

rather than one of social justice and morality.

 

The rejection was a major upset for the prestigious publishing

company, which for the first time was trying to enter the lucrative

California market for kindergarten through eighth-grade teaching

materials. California is the nation's largest textbook purchaser, and

often sets the tone for what is adopted by other states.

 

David Gershwin of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles laid

out for the commissioners Oxford's depiction of the Exodus. Not only,

he said, does the Oxford text note that there is no historical record

of the Exodus — a caveat not included in descriptions of the seminal

religious events of other faiths — it incorrectly states that the

story is important to Jews mainly as a way to set themselves off from

other people.

 

When Jewish groups asked Oxford to change that passage to reflect the

importance of the Exodus as a story of national and personal

liberation, they were rebuffed.

 

"It is difficult for us to comprehend why the beliefs of other

religions are presented without critical comment, while the essential

event of Judaism is subjected to a historical analysis that can only

be described as disdainful and highly subjective," Gershwin

testified.

 

One Hindu speaker pointed to a chapter called, "Where's the Beef?"

and said it offended him to have his faith presented "in the manner

of an outdated television ad."

 

Following the public criticism, 14 commissioners voted last Friday

against adopting the Oxford materials, and one commissioner

abstained. Their rejection came as a surprise, because a special

review committee had recommended its adoption to the commission.

 

California has mandated the study of religion since 1987. Judaism,

Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism are studied in sixth grade, and

Islam is covered in seventh grade.

 

Oxford is one of 12 publishers whose programs were being considered

for adoption by the state. Approval of materials means school

districts can use state money to purchase them. The Curriculum

Commission rejected the programs of two other publishers, as well,

but those had not been recommended by the review committee, which

said they did not meet state standards.

 

The state Board of Education will make its final decisions on all the

programs Nov. 3.

 

Although Jewish groups picked out Oxford's materials as the most

egregious, none of the publishers escaped criticism.

 

Jackie Berman, educational consultant of the San Francisco Jewish

Community Relations Council (JCRC), and policy analyst Susan Mogull

spent the last few months poring over the offerings of all the

programs vying for the California market.

 

Speaking for the JCRC's new Institute for Curriculum Services

project, they sent extensive reviews of the proposed materials to

state commissioners in late August. Their reviews said that "many of

the texts contain narrations of the Crucifixion that blame or clearly

implicate the Jews, presentations of the parable of the Good

Samaritan that identify uncaring passers-by as Jews and Paul as a

persecutor of Christians when he was the Jewish Saul — all have been

used throughout history as a means of implanting anti-Semitism in

young minds."

 

Berman said that while other publishers "worked well with us" to

resolve issues of concern to the Jewish community, the Oxford team

did not.

 

In a Sept. 27 memo to the Curriculum Commission, Oxford criticized

the Institute for Curriculum Services' concerns as "an apologetic

defence of Judaism" and said the Jewish group was "not looking for

historical objectivity but a religious agenda."

 

The Oxford response stated it "is not relevant" to bring up how the

Good Samaritan parable may have been used by anti-Semites throughout

history. "Many religious texts in all traditions have been used to

justify bad behavior," the memo said.

 

However, Anne Eisenberg of the National Council of Jewish Women told

commissioners, "Teaching religion to sixth- and seventh-graders is a

high-stakes challenge. Jew hatred still exists and, in some places,

thrives. This is a book that millions of children could potentially

read."

 

In addition to rejecting the Oxford text, the Curriculum Commission

passed a motion requiring publishers to make changes requested by the

Institute for Curriculum Services before their programs can be

adopted by the state board in November.

 

After the hearing, Oxford representatives said they

had "misunderstood" the public comment procedure, and are eager to

work with Jewish and Hindu groups to make changes before November,

when they plan to resubmit their program to the California board.

 

"We will be reaching out to the Jewish and Hindu organizations that

brought up specific issues in our text, so they'll feel comfortable

withdrawing their objections," said Casper Grathwohl of the reference

division publisher of Oxford University Press.

 

The "Where's the Beef?" chapter heading was intended "to grab

readers' attention," said Amanda Podany, a co-author of one of the

Oxford sixth-grade textbooks. "No offense was intended," she said,

and the heading will "certainly" be changed.

 

Both she and Grathwohl said that the Oxford series devotes more space

to Judaism than the other course programs under consideration. This

both indicates their serious interest in the topic, and provides more

to criticize, they said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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