Joy Reid Rants: Governor Abbott Will Make Students Dumber

June 10th, 2021 6:37 PM

On Wednesday night’s The ReidOut, host Joy Reid ranted about a recent Texas bill that created the 1836 Project to give students a patriotic education and teach American values to future generations. Reid slammed Governor Greg Abbott (R) as the absolute worst for signing this bill which would supposedly “make your state’s students literally dumber because they’re less informed.”

Reid began her extreme crusade against Governor Abbott and the 1836 Project when she compared it to Chinese propaganda: “First of all, patriotic education is literally what China called its propaganda efforts after the Tiananmen Square Massacre. So, great branding on that one, Texas.”

 

 

Just because something promoted conservative values and patriotic education doesn’t make it propaganda. And while it is true that slavery existed in America, which nobody denied, it is not a defining feature of the American founding as Reid believes it to be.

She also attacked Abbott for another bill that would ban the teaching of critical race theory in Texas schools: 

The bill includes language that a school may not require, or make a course the concept that the advent of slavery constituted the founding of the United States or the true founding of the United States. Except that it does, it’s in the actual constitution.

Unsurprisingly, Reid promoted critical race theory and the 1619 project which falsely teach that racism and slavery are central and defining features of American history and politics. In reality, a simple reading of the Constitution and understanding of the American founding would prove that in principle, the founders were against slavery because they believed it was contrary to nature, and they believed it was bound to fail. However, for Reid the left could never be wrong, and Texas will only be making their students dumber with the 1836 project.

She ended the segment with a warning to her viewers: “Texas affects what the entire nation learns about since Texas is so big that publishers found it was more profitable to take a book crafted to appeal to Texas and market it largely unchanged in other states.” This quote reinforced the left’s obsession with controlling and rewriting the narrative of American history, even if their side of story was inaccurate.

This segment was brought to you by Stanley Steemer and Applebee’s. Their contact information is linked.

Below is a transcript of the segment, click “expand” to read:

MSNBC's The ReidOut
06/10/2021
7:45 p.m. Eastern

JOY REID: Republicans in Texas are so triggered by the mere existence of the 1619 Project that on Monday, Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that would create the rival 1836 Project, marking the date when Texas gained its independence from Mexico.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): To keep Texas the best state in the United States of America, we must never forget why Texas became so exceptional in the first place. The 1836 Project promotes patriotic education about Texas and ensures that the generations to come understand Texas values. Project 1836 is now law in the great state of Texas.

REID: Everyone around him looks so awkward. First of all, patriotic education is literally what China called its propaganda efforts after the Tiananmen Square Massacre. So, great branding on that one, Texas. The bill calls for the project to promote the history of prosperity and democratic freedom in this state. Okay, so let’s talk about what the democratic freedom actually entails, shall we? Since there’s no mention of slavery in the text of the bill. Texans love to remember the Alamo. But what actually happened in 1836 was that Texas residents decided to break from Mexico so they could continue to own slaves. Mexico had abolished the vile practice. Slavery was also a major reason why Texas remained its own nation for nine years and after it did finally become a Texas, Texas seceded from the union along with the other southern states because of slavery --- slavery. So that’s something that was only added to the Texas curriculum in 2019 --- 2019. And while the bill does mention Juneteenth, it’s worth noting that the holiday’s origin are a far from a proud moment for the Lone Star State, since slavery in the state ended a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation since no one bothered to tell those enslaved people that they were free for two whole years. Here’s the thing. As an investigation by the "Texas Monthly" points out, the version of Texas history taught in school is often sanitized and there is nothing in the bill that suggests Texas won’t continue to whitewash history. Meanwhile, another bill is waiting on Governor Abbott’s desk that would ban the teaching of critical race theory, which I should note is only actually taught in law schools. The bill includes language that a school may not require, or make a course the concept that the advent of slavery constituted the founding of the United States or the true founding of the United States. Except that it does, it’s in the actual Constitution. Texas already ranks pretty low on education, 41st in the nation. So it might not want to limit their students’ learning. And even worse, Texas affects what the entire nation learns about since Texas is so big that publishers found it was more profitable to take a book crafted to appeal to Texas and market it largely unchanged in other states. So, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, for your promotion of Texas’s great fairytale history to make your state’s students literally dumber because they’re less informed, you are tonight’s absolute worst.