"History Alive!," Scottsdale Schools, and a Reader's Comment at www.danielpipes.org

I received an e-mail from Janie White on February 27, 2005, in which, responding to my article on "Spreading Islam in American Public Schools" she told me about her daughter's experiences in the 7^th grade with a textbook from the Teacher's Curriculum Institute titled History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond. I urged her to make this statement public, which she did later that day as "Islamic Indoctrination in Scottsdale, Arizona Public School" at the comments section of my website.

I marked it as an outstanding comment and it took off, receiving thousands of visits over the next five days – something unusual or possibly unique since comments began to be posted at www.danielpipes.org in April 2002. The comment was also picked up by a number of important websites, including FrontPageMag.com and LittleGreenFootballs.com.

With this kind of exposure, Janie White's message reached the school authorities in her hometown, Scottsdale, Arizona. And today, just over a month later, comes word from Arizona's East Valley Tribune that the Scottsdale Unified School District pulled History Alive! as a result of her posting. Here is the account by reporter Andrea Falkenhagen (with links added by me):

The issue drew national attention when a man claiming to be a Scottsdale father [DP comment: This is an error repeated from a website; it was not a father but Janie White] posted an entry on conservative writer Daniel Pipes' Web site on Feb. 27. The man lambasted what he stated was "fake history along with Islamic religious proselytizing and indoctrination techniques" at his child's school.

The posting found its way to at least five other Internet log sites, most of which claim to be politically conservative. One Jewish Web site also encouraged readers to contact the Scottsdale district, saying the textbook denigrates Judaism. At least one Web site, which doesn't claim any religious affiliation, criticizes [District Governing Board Member Christine] Schild and [Superintendent John] Baracy, saying Arizona public schools are being turned into madrassas, or Islamic religious schools. The site claims it is run by former Cave Creek public school teacher Catherine King and her husband, Jerome du Bois.

Schild said she received between 50 and 100 e-mails concerning the text, many of which came from out of state.

Comment: What a perfect example of the power of the Internet. I am thrilled that this website helped Janie White get her message out, with such immediate effect. (April 6, 2005)