Textbook that Calls Mexicans Lazy is 'Dead on Arrival,' Says Texas Board of Education Chief

AUSTIN, TX — More than 100 people signed up to address the State Board of Education on Tuesday, amid concerns over a controversial textbook that depicts the Mexican culture as lazy.

The book, titled "Mexican American Heritage," includes passages such as: "Mexican laborers were not reared to put in a full day’s work so vigorously. There was a cultural attitude of ‘mañana,’ or ‘tomorrow,’ when it came to high-gear production."

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Texas Education Agency in Austin, just hours before the board was scheduled to hear from more than 100 people wanting to opine on the book.

"If we permit materials like the ones in this textbook that express a clear and pointed bias, a disrespect for culture and community and, in essence, plan for that culture to be pushed out of the educational pipeline, out of growth, out of self esteem, out of competence, out of society's advantages and opportunities, we are allowing a design to push Mexicans to the bottom of society and keep us there," said Carmen Tafolla, an associate professor at the University of San Antonio and, most recently, Texas' poet laureate.

Many who sit on the board of education didn’t need to be persuaded to change their minds about the book.

Vice Chairman Thomas Ratcliff, a Mount Pleasant Republican, called the textbook dead on arrival and said, “There is no way in the world that book gets passed by the State Board of Education.”

Eight high school students from Spring Woods High School and their teacher, along with 14 students from Lee College in Baytown, were among those who traveled to from Houston on Tuesday to protest in front of the Texas State Board of Education.

"This textbook will teach an entire generation of students to discriminate against Latinos," writer and activist Tony Diaz of El Librotraficante told KPRC.

The textbook was published by a company run by Cynthia Dunbar, a former conservative Republican member of the board, and was the only Mexican-American history textbook submitted to the board for consideration.

Recently, a committee of Texas educators and historians that examined the accuracy of some the content found 68 factual errors and 73 interpretive or omission errors within the text.

Emilio Zamora, a professor from the University of Texas at Austin, called some of the errors in the book "beauties,” and outlined some of greater historical errors found in the textbook, such as the misidentification of the river as the southern border of Texas, misreporting how long certain people served in leadership roles, as well as getting names wrong and omitting the names of six Mexican-Americans who were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

"It is very obvious the book does not consult the vast literature of Mexican-American studies," he said.

Opponents need eight votes to reject the book a committee of Mexican-American history experts has said is derogatory, inaccurate and laden with misinformation. The board's five Democrats, who normally vote together, have said they would oppose the book, leaving the decision up to the remaining 10 Republicans who are split evenly as moderate and conservative.

Schools that opt to offer a Mexican-American studies course have the freedom to choose books freely for the class and would not be required to use the book should it be approved.

The board is expected to make a final decision to accept or reject the book in November.

Image: Shutterstock