Textbook publisher McGraw-Hill is revising all of their World Geography textbooks to edit a controversial statement made. This occurred after a Houston mother saw her freshman son’s textbook, which called slaves “workers.”

The textbook reads “The Atlantic slave trade between the 1500s and the 1800s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.”

Sophomore Zarainy Dewberry disagrees with their word choice. “If they were called workers, they would have had the opportunity to leave, [which] they couldn’t do because they were slaves.”

After the mother, Roni Dean-Burren, shared this on Facebook, her post gathered over 1.4 million shares. McGraw-Hill heard their voices, reviewed the section, and decided to revise the book.

The publisher posted on its Facebook page on Friday, assuring the public it would change the wording. “We believe we can do better. To communicate these facts more clearly, we will update this caption to describe the arrival of African slaves in the U.S. as a forced migration and emphasize that their work was done as slave labor,” McGraw-Hill said.

Some people disagree with this word choice as well. Dewberry believes that the word “slave” should be used. “It’s a good idea to keep the negative. Without the negative, people don’t have the incentive to change or [learn] from history,” Dewberry said.

The edits have already appeared in the book’s online version and the edits will appear in the book’s next printing. Still, some parents, teachers, and students are not satisfied. Some claim the book still downplays slavery by calling it forced migration.

Do you agree with the new  choice of words, or should it be changed? Should it have been changed at all? Let us know in the comments or tell us on Twitter or our other social media accounts.