VII SUPPORTING LETTERS BY ACADEMICS AND SCHOLARS » Dr. Yvette Rosser
Glee Johnson,
President
California State Board of Education
and to
The Honorable Members of the California State Board of Education
Fax: (916) 319-0176
Feb 9, 2006
Greetings,
Since this letter is one among thousands you have received about ancient India and Hinduism in sixth grade textbooks, I will be very brief as I make three points:
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In the last-minute interjection from Professor Witzel, there was a noticeable amount of condescension if not hostility towards Hindus and Hinduism, in addition to unabashed name-calling. This in itself should cause alarm. You would not invite known anti-Semites to oversee the edits about Judaism. Though Daniel Pipes is a good scholar and on the board of the U.S. Institute for peace, the Muslim families in California would not want Daniel Pipes– a known critic of Islam–to determine the narrative about their religious traditions written for California’s Muslim children and their classmates. The same applies regarding Michael Witzel’s selectively radical interpretation of Hinduism negatively juxtaposed against the evolving self–image of sensitive adolescent Hindu children in California.
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Each segment in the textbooks describing different religious traditions must be subjected to the same criteria. The section on Islam does not highlight that in the Qu’ran a woman’s word is worth half of a man’s in a court of law, the section on Christianity does not discuss the inquisition and the burning of witches. A negative slant is used solely for describing Hinduism. This must be changed so that all the religions are covered using the same positive approach, appropriate for eleven and twelve year olds. This strategy of fairness must also be applied to the state’s editorial process. The edits proposed by the Hindus must be considered from within a holistic perspective and not subjected to deconstructing, negating academic scrutiny, while in contrast, the other religious traditions were spared this third tier criticism.
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As an educator, I know how important it is that children are shown respect, which can determine their achievement. Sixth graders are receptive and open-minded and they have very good memories. For many of these adolescent students, this may be one of the few times that they are introduced to the religions of their fellow classmates/citizens. They will go through life with those impressions. At this formative stage, the images should be positive. More in-depth studies that explore nuances can be undertaken in high school or college. Don’t let the textbooks negatively impact the children of California. And please don’t subject sixth grade Hindu children to degrading narratives about their traditions.
Thank you very much. Please do not hesitate to contact me:
Yvette Rosser