It makes sense to assume that every state or province delivers the same educational material to its students. However, in the United States, this is not the case. In an article titled “Two States. Eight Textbooks. Two American Stories,” the New York Times reported that different areas’ textbooks relate historical events in different ways. The portrayal of these events depends on each state’s central political climate: in right-wing Texas, textbooks distort history to suit right-wing biases, even if the books come from the same publisher and credit the same authors as those produced for California. A Californian textbook, for example, teaches that the Second Amendment allowed for some gun regulations. This is never stated in a Texan textbook.

The differences in the textbooks are influenced by many factors, such as political and religious beliefs. Conservatives push for more patriotic or religious teaching than liberals, who want to focus more on marginalized groups in society. While a Californian panel asked textbook giant McGraw-Hill to avoid using the word “massacre” to describe Native American attacks on white people in the 19^th century, a Texas panel asked the publisher to put more emphasis on how the Protestant Great Awakening inspired the Declaration of Independence. The New York Times reported that the Texas panel was a mix of “educators, parents, business representatives and a Christian pastor and politician.” In contrast, the California panel was made up of educators.

The motivation of each state panel is also evident in how the books talk about Black history and the white resistance to civil rights. Where a Californian textbook notes that white people moved away from diversifying neighbourhoods to flee from the new Black residents, a Texan textbook argues that these people moved away to escape “crime and congestion.”

One is not born to hate. Rather, hate is taught. Although both Texas and California’s textbooks have the same publisher, the different language in the Texas textbooks changes how it represents historical events and alludes to several biases within the state’s panel. These biases will distort the way Texan children learn. It is up to educational institutions to ensure that they are not teaching a biased portrayal of history.