A Moms for Liberty leader who testified in favor of Texas’ new social studies standards is defending the changes after Houston Muslim leaders criticized how the curriculum addresses Islam.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Islamic Society of Greater Houston President Emran Gazi said Houston-area mosques are registering about 1,000 voters a week after the State Board of Education approved revised social studies standards on September 4. DX has not independently verified that figure.
“I can guarantee you, if you all go out and vote this time, Muslims’ vote will make a difference in Houston and Harris County,” Gazi said during a press conference, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The press conference focused on objections to the new standards’ treatment of Islam. Retired Houston school counselor Daa’iyah Farooq argued that the curriculum could lead some children to view themselves as inferior and others as superior.
“We are not asking the board to hide an uncomfortable history, but to apply the same intellectual standard to everyone,” Farooq said.
Bell Defends Standards
Denise Bell, chair of the Harris County chapter of Moms for Liberty, previously testified before the SBOE in support of the standards.
“I gave testimony at the SBOE in support of the new Social Studies standards because those new standards provide an accurate account of history,” Bell told The Dallas Express.
Bell pushed back directly against the arguments presented at the ISGH press conference.
“While the ISGH claimed in their press conference that they ‘are not asking the schools to hide difficult history’ and that they want history to be taught ‘accurately, responsibly and in the proper historical context,’ they also do not want the TX Social Studies standards to mention the ‘early Islam brutal military campaigns against Christians and Jews’ or the fact that the ‘911 hijackers were radical Islamists,’” Bell explained.
“These two examples are important pieces of context from a historical perspective, and without them, history will be framed in a way that will not allow students to see or understand the whole picture,” she added.
ISGH and other critics have argued that the standards disproportionately emphasize violence when addressing Islam and risk presenting the religion and Muslim students negatively. Organizers of the September press conference described their concerns as involving religious freedom, accurate history and fair treatment of different faith traditions.
Provided by Dallas Express
