On November 9, 2017, California’s State Board of Education will vote on new textbooks, includes 6th/7th grade history textbooks. In 2016, the Board agreed with South Asian Histories for All (SAHFA) on many key points while approving the official curriculum framework. But they failed to enforce their own guidelines as publishers developed textbooks. Now every proposed textbook covering ancient South Asia has major errors, including hiding the history of caste oppression.

South Asian Histories for All (SAHFA), a multi-faith and inter-caste coalition, is urging the state of California to approve only those textbooks that tell a neutral and factual history of South Asia.

“We wouldn’t censor slavery in our textbooks. So why erase caste?” asked Praveen Sinha. “I’m not ashamed of being Hindu. Our history should be taught, both the good and the bad.” But some Hindu nationalist lobby groups are trying to hide basic historical facts—including erasing the history of caste oppression.

Erasing caste impacts California students and parents. “My parents faced caste-based atrocities,” said Dolly Arjun, a first generation Dalit American. “I don’t want the state to approve textbooks that deny us an education accurately reflecting reality.

Some proposed textbooks push controversial and discredited theories. “No trained historian would ever use terms like ’Saraswati Civilization’ without irony,” said Huma Dar, founder of UC Berkeley’s Muslim Identities & Cultures working group. “It’s an act of pedagogic theft to teach students material we know to be false.

Examples of major errors in proposed textbooks

  • Discovery Education Social Studies Techbook (section 6.2, page 2)
    • The official guidelines said:
      “A person belonged to a particular…[caste]…primarily by birth.”
    • But the textbook publisher wrote:
      “an ideal set of social classes based on…natural abilities
  • McGraw-Hill IMPACT: California Social Studies (chapter 7, page 255)
    • The official guidelines said:
      No reference to the controversial argument that Aryans originated in India—an idea contradicted by genetic evidence
    • But the textbook publisher wrote:
      “There is another point of view that suggests that Aryans and their language are indigenous to India. This point of view…is held by a smaller number of scholars.”
  • National Geographic World History Ancient Civilizations, California Student Edition (unit 2, chapter 6, section 1.3, page 149)
    • The official guidelines said:
      Dalit people are described by name: “In addition, by 500 CE or earlier, there existed certain communities outside the jati system, the Dalits
    • But the textbook publisher wrote:
      “At the bottom were slaves, laborers, and artisans…Many centuries later, another group developed that was considered even lower.”
  • National Geographic World History Ancient Civilizations, California Student Edition (unit 4, section 2.2, page 273)
    • The official guidelines said:
      “Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak, a social reformer who challenged the authority of the Brahmins and the caste order.”
    • But the textbook publisher wrote:
      No mention of Sikh opposition to caste or Brahmin authority
  • Pearson California History-Social Science myWorld Interactive (Lesson 4.1, Page 132)
    • The official guidelines said:
      Refers to the “Indus Valley Civilization”—the standard name used by scholars and academics
    • But the textbook publisher wrote:
      Uses a controversial alternate name preferred by many Hindu fundamentalists: “Indus Saraswati civilization
  • California Studies Weekly – Social Studies (week 24)
    • The official guidelines said:
      “A person belonged to a particular…[caste]…primarily by birth
    • But the textbook publisher wrote:
      “someone’s position in society was based on his or her nature, or attitude
  • Teacher’s Curriculum Institute History Alive! California Series (lesson 15)
    • The official guidelines said:
      Refers to the “Indus Valley Civilization”—the standard name used by scholars and academics
    • But the textbook publisher wrote:
      Uses a controversial alternate name preferred by many Hindu fundamentalists: “Indus Sarasvati civilization”
  • Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt Social Studies World History: Ancient Civilizations, California Edition (grade 6, module 6, page 180)
    • The official guidelines said:
      “Although ancient India was a patriarchy, women had a right to their personal wealth…but little property rights when compared to men, akin to the other ancient kingdoms and societies”
    • But the textbook publisher wrote:
      “In ancient India, women had most of the same rights as men
  • Pearson California History-Social Science myWorld Interactive (Lesson 4.6, Page 190-191)
    • The official guidelines said:
      Neutral description: “Islam became firmly established politically in the north as well as in some coastal towns and parts of the Deccan Plateau, although the majority of the population of South Asia remained Hindu.”
    • But the textbook publisher wrote:
      Attempt to invent a “clash of civilizations” between homogenous Hindus and Muslims: “Arab armies had occupied…Hindu rulers fought off conquest…Muslim armies could not advance…Hindu temples and schools were demolished and Hindu festivals were banned”

Solutions

California students deserve high-quality textbooks. That’s why we ask the State Board of Education to:

  1. Fix the mistakes: accept the list of recommendations from South Asian Histories for All
  2. Allow for final edits: send the textbook adoption back to the Instructional Quality Commission, to let them do one final series of edits
  3. Prevent future errors: establish a panel of scholars from Title VI institutions that can vet South Asia related content

About Us

South Asian Histories for All is a coalition of teachers, students, parents, and community members.

We include Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis; Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, and atheists. We are an interfaith, multiracial, and intercaste alliance that centers the stories of all the religious and cultural communities in South Asia. And we believe California students deserve a balanced and fact-based history, not a partisan history.

We believe that all histories—including that of California and the United States—comprise facts that may be difficult and complex in hindsight, but must be understood in order to build a stronger democratic future for our children. We do not support the manipulation of historical facts for the purposes of pushing a fundamentalist religious-political agenda.