November 22, 2013
A biography of Barack Obama that is being used in Dupo, Illinois, claims that white people rejected Barack Obama because of his race, the Illinois Review said Thursday.
According to the Review, the book, simply titled "Barack Obama," supplements the school's Common Core curriculum, and "blames television for the negative behaviors the first African-American president picked up as a teen."
Another passage claims that white voters would never vote for a black president. The Washington Post, however, says that Obama received 39 percent of the white vote in 2012, the same percentage Bill Clinton received in 1992. Obama also received 43 percent of the white vote in 2008.
Nevertheless, the book leaves the impression that the opposite took place.
"But some people said Americans weren't ready for that much change. Sure Barack was a nice fellow, they said. But white voters would never vote for a black president. Other angry voices were raised. Barack's former pastor called the country a failure. God would damn the United States for mistreating its black citizens, he said," the book says.
Parents were outraged when fourth-grade students at Bluffview Elementary were told the book would be tested for grades.
A Facebook group called "Moms against Duncan (MAD)" brought attention to the book the Review added. The group formed as a result of derogatory comments recently made by Education Secretary Arne Duncan against "white suburban moms" and their resistance to Common Core standards.