Souter Decries Lack of Civics Knowledge, Plans to Do Something About it

J.D.
May 21, 2009 7:42 AM CST

Yes, well the leftist educational groups are quite obviously to blame. Instead of learning American History, students are being taught that Western Civilization is “evil”—from grade school through college.

It’s gotten so bad that we now have student groups starting up called “Youth for Western Civilization” as a response to students marching through campuses with signs reading “Down with Western Civ!”

It’s pretty clear which ideology is pushing this anti-West, anti-capitalist, anti-American garbage. And it’s no surprise that people are not learning basic civics. Souter is right that the Republic “can be lost, it is being lost”—that’s the very goal these “educators” are trying to achieve!

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J.D.
May 21, 2009 9:38 AM CST

T.R., I suspect you’ve been away from a classroom for quite some time. What exactly is influencing college students to march with “Down with Western Civilization!” signs, in your opinion?

And do you not consider students being taught that the SW United States was “stolen from Mexico” as a form of ignorance? Here’s a little sample from a Latino teacher raising the red flag at Tuscon High School:

“During the 2002-2003 school year, I taught a U.S. history course with a Mexican-American perspective. The course was part of the Raza/Chicano studies department. I was expected only to assign grades. The Raza studies department staff would teach the class. Immediately it was clear that the class was not a U.S. history course, which the state of Arizona requires for graduation.

“The basic theme of the curriculum was that Mexican-Americans were and continue to be victims of a racist American society driven by the interests of middle and upper-class whites. In this narrative, whites are able to maintain their influence only if minorities are held down. Thus, social, political and economic events in America must be understood through this lens.

“This biased and sole paradigm justified teaching that our community police officers are an extension of the white power structure and that they are the strongmen used “to keep minorities in their ghettos.

“It justified telling the class that there are fewer Mexican-Americans in Tucson Magnet High School’s advanced placement courses because their ‘white teachers’ do not believe they are capable and do not want them to get ahead.

“It justified teaching that the Southwestern United States was taken from Mexicans because of the insatiable greed of the Yankee who acquired his values from the corrupted ethos of Western civilization.

“It was taught that the Southwest is ‘Atzlan,’ the ancient homeland of the Aztecs, and still rightfully belongs to their descendants - to all people of indigenous Mexican heritage.

“As an educator, I refused to be complicit in a curriculum that engendered racial hostility, irresponsibly demeaned America’s civil institutions, undermined our public servants, discounted any virtues in Western civilization and taught disdain for American sovereignty.

“When I raised these concerns, I was told that I was a ‘racist,’ despite being Hispanic. Acknowledging my heritage, the Raza studies staff also informed me that I was a vendido, the Spanish term for ‘sellout.’”

THE SAME SCHOOL regularly buses students to illegal alien amnesty protests, and Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, tells students there that “Republicans hate Latinos.”

JUST NOT enough time in the day to talk about those trivial “separation of powers” and such.

And yes, I’d say the people running these “Raza” schools are quite anti-American.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/opinion/85853.php

http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4746419&nav=HMO6HMaY

Partial list of schools advocating Marxism, racial separatism, and anti-American sentiment. Don’t kill the messenger:

http://michellemalkin.com/2006/07/12/aztlan-academy-coming-to-your-neighborhood/

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J.D.
May 21, 2009 3:30 PM CST

I’d like to see T.R.‘s response to that one, Andy. Since he wants “knowledge” I suspect he’d want both evolution and creationism mentioned. After all, the more information the better, no?

But please, resist the stereotypes. I’m a firm believer in evolution, but the fact is it’s a theory with a lot of holes. No science is really ever settled, and at the same time, I really don’t see any conflict between a creationist or evolutionist theory. Certainly both can be true—evolution happens after creation… perhaps.

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B. McLeod
May 21, 2009 8:52 PM CST

How many times have you been stuck in traffic, behind somebody fumbling around all over their control panel looking for the the “repeat” on the CD player?  I think if somebody is going to drive a Civic (especially a hybrid, or for that matter, any of these complicated new cars), he or she truly ought to read the owner’s manual in advance.  It will save a lot of grief in the long haul.  Souter is absolutely right.

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