Glenn Beck was upset tonight about teachers in Texas having to teach the Battle of the Alamo with a “neutral perspective.” Or, he was upset about them having to do so back in 2002, anyway.
Before he started reading from a 9-year-old Christian Science Monitor article that formed the basis of his segment, Beck demanded, “Well, let's make sure we get it right. They were only fighting for Mexican independence. Uh, that's the truth, but apparently, that's not good enough.”
BECK: Were you aware -- “Remember the Alamo”? When they teach “Remember the Alamo” to students in Texas, teachers now have to be careful how they teach it, because it has to be taught with a neutral perspective. In Texas classrooms? “Remember the Alamo”?
Well, let's make sure we get it right. They were only fighting for Mexican independence. Uh, that's the truth, but apparently, that's not good enough.
If you're like me, when you first heard this, you wouldn't believe it. But let me show you an article from 2002 about how Texas schoolteachers feeling more pressure to, quote, “bring more perspective into state history.”
As you probably know, the Battle of the Alamo was about Texan independence.
From the National Historic Landmarks Web page on the Alamo:
On February 24, 1836, during the Texan War for Independence, some 5,000 Mexican soldiers under the command of Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana besieged less than 200 Texans and their supporters in this mission church. Thirteen days later, the Mexicans stormed the Alamo from all sides, penetrated the fortress and killed all 187 defenders, including famed frontiersmen James Bowie and David Crockett. This defeat won sympathy for the Texan cause in the United States and strengthened Texan will to throw off Mexican domination.
If you think Beck might have misspoken, well, here's Beck misspeaking again in the next segment, after reading from Texan leader William Travis' letter from the Alamo. “That letter should say everything to every American,” Beck said. “That letter is from an independent American fighting for Mexican independence,” he stressed.
This is especially embarrassing for Beck given the fact that in the intervening nine years -- just last year, in fact -- there was a high-profile battle over revisions to the social studies curriculum for Texas schools. A conservative faction on the Texas State Board of Education ultimately succeeded in putting its imprint on the standards.
After the Board of Education voted on the new standards, a March 12 Associated Press article reported:
Numerous attempts to add the names or references to important Hispanics throughout history also were denied, inducing [sic] one amendment that would specify that Tejanos died at the Alamo alongside Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie.
Beck's craving for outrage apparently reaches beyond the years.
Also, it looks like Beck didn't learn much during his visit to San Antonio back in 2009, when he hosted one of the "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties" -- right in front of the Alamo: