By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Last night, the History Channel aired the controversial “The People Speak” program which was written by a communist professor and American historian and is said to be destined for America’s classrooms.
An adaptation of a book by Howard Zinn and entitled “The People’s History of the United States” was the subject of a documentary that aired on the History Channel last night. Zinn, who believes capitalism is evil, writes his own version of history that presents the U.S. government as oppressive and socialism as the ideal.
“Zinn has spent a lifetime teaching college students about the evils of capitalism, the promise of Marxism, and his version of American history – a history that has, in his view, been kept from students,” writes Peter Courrielche of BigHollywood. “His controversial 1980-book The People’s History of the United States paints traditional American history as a façade – one that has grotesquely immortalized flawed leaders and is based on principles that victimize the common man.”
The History Channel, which is owned by the far-left wing NBC, appears to agree. They describe Zinn’s work as representing “the voices of resistance in U.S. history – resistance to injustice, to war. Voices that can inspire viewers to recognize the power ordinary people have to change the course of history.”
Even more disturbing is that Zinn is partnering with the History Channel to bring his revisionist idea of American history into America’s classrooms.
The Zinn Education Project, a resource for teaching Zinn’s view of American history, includes lessons such as “Rethinking Columbus” for pre-schoolers which is intended to counter “the myth of Columbus.” Zinn believes pre-K children “need to hear from those whose lands and rights were taken away by those who ‘discovered’ them.”
In another lesson for preschoolers entitled “One Country! One Language! One Flag!” students are taught to examine the history of the Pledge of Allegiance “and the political milieu in which it was written.” The teaching plan introduces pre-schoolers to the lynching of African Americans in the 1880s and to the nation’s history of violence and discrimination against minority groups.
After a discussion of an old chant known as the “One Language” chant that was allegedly used in classrooms up until 1942, the lesson plan suggests to teachers: “Why not lead kids in the original Pledge to the Flag, including the ‘One Language!’ chant and the Nazi-like salute, and then lead a discussion about the politics of the Pledge?”
“I am not advocating that we spare our kids the harsh truths of American history,” Courrielche writes, “but I am suggesting, given Zinn’s far-left political affiliation, this project is designed to breakdown our vulnerable children’s views of American principles so that they can be built back up in a socialist vision.”
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