Change

Though a minority of school districts adopted Conflict and Change, its example encouraged other authors to more progressive positions on race. The textbook controversy marked a transition from the effects of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s to the beginning of the culture wars of the 1980s and beyond. The fight involved interpretations of the past, values to be taught to children, who would control society, and the definition of state identity anticipated similar controversies in the culture wars over the National History Standards and the Smithsonian’s exhibit dealing with the Enola Gay.