The group was formed in the early-1980s by television producer Norman Lear (best known for All in the Family and The Jeffersons) to counter the ridiculous ramblings of evangelical preachers, like the late-Jerry Falwell. To protest the "right's revisionist history," the PFAW has started an online petition that you can sign (via Campus Progress).
Here's what it says:
To Whom It May Concern:
Textbook publishers have traditionally used content which conforms disproportionately to the textbook and curriculum standards of one state: Texas. The Texas State Board of Education is currently a political body dominated by ideological extremists who are seeking to rewrite history and use social studies textbooks to advance a political agenda. Textbooks should be prepared by those with substantive subject matter expertise and not to promote a particular political worldview.
No state's market should dictate the textbook content for the nation as a whole, and that is particularly feasible now due to recent advances in printing and publishing technologies.
We, the undersigned, therefore urge your company to publish textbooks free of political or ideological bias and to reject any controversial Texas-required content in the publishing and distribution of textbooks for other states.
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