Control of language, textbooks, by pressure groups

[Nie Trink Wasser]

Los Angeles Times:

Ravitch made it her business to investigate "the Language Police." What she discovered about the roots and ramifications of this eerily Orwellian system is the story told in this book. As the subtitle suggests, it is a story of how pressure groups -- left-wing and right-wing, large and small -- have managed to control not only the language, but even the very subject matter and ideas that appear in the textbooks being used in our schools.
.......

The publishers have voluntarily adopted "bias and sensitivity" guidelines, which echo the guidelines of test development companies, which reflect the guidelines of various state and city agencies, which in turn reflect the concerns and sensitivities of ... well, just about anyone who cares to raise a stink about anything.

http://www.calendarlive.com/books/reviews/cl-et-book28apr28,0,4911708.story?coll=cl-books-reviews

[BillyTK]

Greedy book companies, ready to sacrifice the Truth (TM) in pursuit of the almighty dollar...

What makes this form of censorship so insidious is that it has not been imposed by the federal government but has been voluntarily embraced by textbook publishers who, quite naturally, want their books to be adopted by schools and by states like California and Texas, where statewide adoptions are the rule. The publishers have voluntarily adopted "bias and sensitivity" guidelines, which echo the guidelines of test development companies, which reflect the guidelines of various state and city agencies, which in turn reflect the concerns and sensitivities of ... well, just about anyone who cares to raise a stink about anything.