Alamo lessons may nix use of ‘heroic’

Panel also says to drop ‘victory or death’ dispatch

Opening a new front in the seemingly endless battle over how to remember the Alamo, an advisory group of educators recommended eliminating the words “heroic defenders” from the standard that requires seventh-graders to learn about the 1836 siege in their Texas history classes.

The State Board of Education will hold a hearing Tuesday on that and other proposals submitted by the work group as it prepares for a series of votes on new social studies curriculum standards. The final vote on the subject is scheduled for November.

“That change outrages me,” said Ken Mercer, a Republican state board member representing District 5, which includes parts of northern and eastern Bexar County. “They never did surrender. They fought the whole time. These guys are heroes.”

The proposed changes also eliminated a specific reference to William B. Travis’ letter addressed to “the People of Texas and All Americans in the World,” commonly referred to as the “victory or death” letter, an appeal for reinforcements written near the start of the siege by Mexican Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna.

Land Commissioner George P. Bush, a former history teacher, issued a statement Thursday blasting the proposal, saying the letter and the Texians’ eventual defeat and death “must remain at the very core of Texas history teaching.”

“This kind of politically correct nonsense is why I will always fight to honor the Alamo defenders’ sacrifice,” Bush said.

Bush has championed

the advancement of a plan to revamp Alamo Plaza into a more history-oriented experience, though its proposed restrictions on pedestrian access and removal of nearby buildings and relocation of the Cenotaph monument have made it deeply controversial.

Two city boards and the Texas Historical Commission must review the plan, in addition to the San Antonio City Council, which could vote in November on it.

‘Value-charged word’

Mercer said he was surprised the educators advised dropping the reference to the letter in their recommendation last month. The letter, he said, was itself heroic and a valuable part of a social studies curriculum that prizes primary sources. He predicted the state board would not approve either change.

“I’m going to fight against that, and I’m sure I have the votes to stop it,” he said.

Donna Bahorich, a Houston Republican who chairs the board, agreed in a tweet Friday. The work committees “have done an EXCELLENT job of streamlining TX social studies standards, however, I do not support deleting one of the most iconic letters in US History for 7th grade,” she wrote, adding, “#HeroesAll #txed #RememberTheAlamo.”

The advisory groups have been working for about a year to streamline social studies standards, responding to complaints that each grade had too many, especially individual names, to teach in one school year, said Debbie Ratcliffe, executive director of the State Board of Education’s support division. This will be the first time since 2010 that social studies standards have been updated, she said.

The 10-member group that at first looked at Texas history standards did not include any representatives from the San Antonio area. The eight-member group that approved their recommendations included a social studies specialist and coordinator from the Comal Independent School District.

They proposed eliminating the words “all the heroic defenders who gave their lives” at the Alamo from a state standard outlining instruction on the Texas war of independence from Mexico, calling “heroic” a “value-charged word” and saying the reference to “all” defenders is too vague and covers too many individuals.

Members of the advisory group still expect Travis’ letter will be taught, but eliminating the reference could lead teachers to spend less time analyzing it, Ratcliffe said. Deleting the specific mention of the letter and “all” the besieged Texians at the Alamo would save 90 minutes of instructional time, they estimated.

“It’s probably one of the most famous letters in Texas history,” Ratcliffe said. “We are headquartered in the William B. Travis State Office Building. We certainly understand the significance of Col. Travis.”

The advisory group cut another 135 minutes by deleting a standard that said, “Explain how the establishment of the Republic of Texas brought civil, political and religious freedom to Texas.” The group said that was repetitive and already covered in two other standards.

Texas history is also taught in the fourth grade, when the standards call on students to analyze the Battle of the Alamo and “summarize the significant contributions of individuals such as Texians William B. Travis” and others.

Marisa Perez-Diaz, a Democrat on the State Board of Education representing much of San Antonio and a strip of South Texas including Edinburg, did not return a message Friday seeking comment.

‘Feels like noise’

Some have objected to the traditional portrait of the Texian cause as a fight for freedom against tyranny because many of those who joined it were only recently arrived Americans interested in expanding slavery. Mercer said people who believe that “need a history lesson.”

“They weren’t fighting for slavery,” he said. “They were fighting because Santa Anna wouldn’t allow them representation anymore . ... Nobody had a voice. Congress was gone. The (Mexican) constitution was gone.”

Mercer remembers learning about the Alamo in his own Texas history class, but when he lived in other states and in France, he also heard the story as one of bravery and heroism. From that story, he said, children learn that “some things are worth fighting for if it’s what you believe in.”

Stephen Harrigan, a historian and author of “The Gates of the Alamo,” said in an email the issue was becoming unnecessarily polarized.

“This whole controversy just feels like noise to me, one more excuse to crank up the political outrage machine,” Harrigan said. “Sure, I regard the Alamo defenders as heroic, and I feel the same way about the Mexican soldados on the other side of the walls, but I don’t have any problem with that particular word not being deployed in the teaching recommendations.”

Comments about the proposed revisions can be sent to teks@tea.texas.gov.