As if we need more dumbed-down histories. After panicking Texans banned “critical race theory” and books by Black, Indigenous, people of color, and queer authors, Governor Greg Abbott signed the 1836 Project into law last September to create a “patriotic education” to assimilate would-be Texans. A nine-person committee chosen by the governor, lieutenant governor, and the house speaker—all Republicans—will create a pamphlet to be issued with every new driver’s license that “explains the significance of policy decisions by this state to promote liberty and freedom for businesses and families.”
Texas State Representative Tan Parker filed his 1836 Project bill last year because “the liberal agenda is not to tell the full history of this state or this nation.” He blamed attacks on his idea on journalists who “want to divide America.”
The guide promises to contain a “greatest hits” of Texas’ founding myths, including what’s become the now-standard glorification of the Alamo battle, promotion of theocratic “Christian heritage,” and possibly the falsehood that Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861 to defend states’ rights. The project came into effect without funding, but whatever the cost is, the Texas Education Agency and Department of Public Safety will pick up the tab. We won’t know what’s in the pamphlet until publication.
