Political Correctness run amuck in public education
By Ari Kaufman with Howie Satinoff (02/16/06)
We in America today live in an inverted world to which perhaps only George Orwell could do justice. In the 1960s, in working class areas of New York City and other large cities, discipline was, for the most part, something ingrained in one’s make-up. It came from a variety of sources: Parents, family, friends, school, but mostly, from a general world view that even a youngster could grasp. Bad behavior and conduct was intolerable, and surely not something one strived to achieve nor be proud of (of course, being 12 in 1969 I (Howie) was more concerned with other things besides burning draft cards and attending anti-war and anti-American marches; if I had been part of the latter group, I might have ended up as a Political Science professor at a leftist bastion of indoctrination like the UC schools that Ari attended).
Back then, students respected, perhaps even feared, authority. There was guilt associated with bad conduct. As any school teacher (of which we are both former) can tell you, these days, bad conduct is often seen by its protagonists as a badge of honor, with no guilt associated with this egregiously disruptive behavior. When I was caught by the Assistant Principal in 7th grade for throwing a piece of clay at a blackboard, I was racked with fear; my life was over, after all. Guilt, embarrassment, anxiety and every negative emotion you! can think of vexed me. My grandfather, may G-d rest his soul, used to tell me that when he got corporal punishment at school (yes, they used to do those things before the ACLU came on the scene, striking trepidation and lawsuits into the hearts of any well-intentioned educator and administrator), what really made him afraid was the beating his father would give him later in the day after hearing about it. Today, the student would be provided lawyers and sue for abuse, or the parents would accuse the teacher of hurting the students delicate self-esteem.
In the spring of 2001, I (Howie) was a Social Studies teacher at a! middle school, which was walking distance from where I grew up. The new “unit” (subject to be taught) was titled “The Glory of Islam”. As a right-wing Zionist Jew (political, not religious), my views on Islam were already, shall we say, set in stone. I was aware of the history of this “religion” from its inception that it was from the beginning an ideology bent on conquest, subjugation, and murder. But as a teacher I could not, would not, be an ideologue. I would be as objective as possible. However, I would not go along with the party line, which basically said (and still does) that Islam is “one of the three great religions” of the world (I suppose the Hindus and Buddhists might have something to say about this, but that’s another story). A few other teacher! s sort of grumbled about this “unit” as well but it was best not to say anything in the ultra-politically correct world of education, lest we lose our jobs or be shunned. I never denigrated Islam or Muslims (there were many at my school) because, in my opinion, most Muslims are like anyone else – born into their surroundings. Being “Muslim” is simply a label that one uses to describe oneself, just like “Christian” or “Jew” or white or black or even tall or short. Fundamentalism is simply not part of the vast majority of people. They’re just people.
However, it was quite revealing when some of my Muslim students discovered, during my classes, that I was Jewish. There was no outward hostility per se, but there was a coldness that hovered over us now. Clearly they had been indoctrinated to, at the very least, distrust Jews. I wasn’t surprised; it was expected. Rather than go into what I taught, the following incident is the theme I wish to convey here, that is, the inverted world we now live in, and keep in mind this happened prior to 9-11. Incredibly, yet obviously, things are worse now.
During one of my classes, an Egyptian male Muslim student got into an adolescent squabble with a female Hispanic classmate. They were both 12 years old. I used to have a private nickname for this student – I called him, under my breath, the “little terrorist” He was a devious sort, always smiling but never happy. They traded jibes and quips; I told them to shut up (telling students to “shut up” is a no-no but I’m a rebel/insurgent). In their next class, as it was related to me by a colleague, the argument continued, getting more heated. More insults were traded. It was up to this point what you would call a good-natured fight, something 12-year! -olds of the opposite sex get involved in as a right of passage. And then, the girl committed the ultimate insult – she called him “gay.” At this, Mohammed’s entire demeanor and attitude changed. His eyes ablaze with fury, he stormed over to her desk, yanked her hair twisting her head back, took a pen, and menacingly pointing it at her neck, threatening death for the insult. How my colleague managed to prevent this I cannot say, but she did, thankfully. It didn’t take long for this incident to become the buzz at the school.
Mohammed was called to the AP’s office, who was a typical leftist self-hating Jew. She told him he’d be suspended for a week (that’s right – a week’s suspension for attempted murder) and his mother would be summoned. The mother arrived. She was from central casting if they needed an ultra-religious Muslim woman, right down to the burqua and veil. The AP told her what happened, that “we here at the school” take these things very seriously. Now, back in the day, any mother would be appalled at this conduct of their offspring. But, as I’ve said, we live in somewhat of a different time, even place and culture. This mother was aghast that! her son was even being considered for punishment. She told the AP that in the Arab/Muslim culture, if a girl insults a boy’s manhood, as happened here, he is OBLIGATED to murder her to restore his and his family’s honor. That he didn’t actually kill her shows what a good American boy he was trying to be.
Now, you might think the AP would tell this woman that, no, that’s not how we do things in the USA. But this is modern PC America in New York City we now live in, where, essentially, America is responsible for all the evils in the world and whose culture is no better (and often worse) than any other culture; where there is no judgment; no good; no evil. Here, the immigrant/victim has more rights than Native Americans (today the Left wants terrorists to have lawyers and Constitutional rights). And so, the AP apologized for being ignorant of the beautiful Muslim culture; of course her son would not be suspended; and it would never happen again. He was back in class the next day, that evil grin planted on his face, the girl in fear for her life. He knew he had been coddled and exonerated, and so did the rest of us. I resigned at the en! d of the term; I no longer wanted to be a part of this travesty. I wrote to several papers about this; they never responded. When 9/11 happened, I knew I had done the right thing because if I had still been teaching my own fury could not have been contained and I probably would have been fired anyway for targeting Islam as the source of the terror, which, by the way, teachers were told on 9-12-01 in no uncertain terms NOT to do.
Today, Mu! slim students at some schools are allowed to pray during the day. This privilege is not given to other religions. The ACLU is startlingly silent to this hypocritical ruling. The “Glory of Islam” is going full steam. The Koran is now part of the White House Library and Ramadan dinners with George Bush and Condi Rice are a hot item in Washington. Muslims are called to prayer in Michigan and C.A.I.R. still! has the ear of govt., even though several of their former officers are in prison for terror support. And the Saudis are our “allies” in the “War on Terror” (a war on a tactic because we are too PC to even name the enemy). Anti-Semitism is on a torrential rise and the Left actually supports the enemies of America. France is burning and the homicide bombs rock the world. Somehow all of this murder is because of “op! pression” and “desperation” and “poverty” (bin Laden is a multi-millionaire); it is forgiven in some circles, condoned in others. It is “aberrant” behavior but certainly no reason for war, as war is evil and never solves anything (except perhaps Nazism, Fascism, Communism, Islamism).
Orwell, from the Great Beyond, has an evil grin on his face.
The stories of hypocrisy, indoctrination and balderdash from my experiences as a public school teacher are well-documented in my November 4 piece for this site entitled, “K-12 Brainwashing.” However, there are more that will appall and enrage any open-minded individual who values an objective education for their offspring.
Why is it that as holidays like Columbus Day and Veterans Day are celebrated less and less, and Washington and Lincoln’s Birthdays are consolidated into one day, holidays like Cesar Chavez Day, Kwanzaa, Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History month are celebrated more often, and with more rigor. Why is it that during my years as an educator in Los Angeles, 45 minutes of class-time for three weeks in May was spent “rehearsing” for a “Multicultural Dance Festival” (only to include, of course, African American and Latin American dances) when I am told by fellow colleagues that “there’s just not enough time for Social Studies and Science.” Why does the celebration of Black History Month last throughout every day in February, ad nauseum, as teachers are expected to read African folk tales, read stories about African American heroes, discuss them at staff meeting, and are encouraged to wear “traditional African dress” to school? If things were equal, and we could have a month for every nationality and religion, I would take no umbrage. But we are not. The district, the calendar and surely the ACLU would not permit such. The only forum I could use to teach social studies en masse, was when I pieced together, (mostly on my time) interspersed within Language Arts and Math, a 25 minute play on Cinco de Mayo. It was culturally relevant, well-planned and well-executed. I wasn’t looking for accolades, but when only six classes (of 35) viewed, and the principal neither put the announcement in the bulletin, nor attended herself, I felt my intrepid efforts had gone typically unappreciated.
Since my prior article appeared, I have had about a dozen emails per day from parents with respect to their frustration with the public schools and their admiration for my and others’ resiliency and courage to confront the situation.
Here are some:
“My son had a required an 'environmental education' class for anyone Studying electronics or other technical subjects as part of their schedule.
From the 'activist' teaching, the first assignment was to seal some unfortunate animal in a container with plants and water to see how long they survived. At a parent’s conference, she told me that it was to show how fragile the environment was. When I mentioned that maybe it would be best to teach the students something about how a closed eco-system works first, she responded, “I have an agenda here, and my purpose is to convert these kids to my way of thinking. Most of the kids had a better grasp of right and wrong than this 60s relic, and secretly released any animal that could be smuggled out of her classroom of death. I'm certain my questioning of her techniques affected my son's grade in the class, but I can't not say something when dealing with such stupidity. I even informed PETA and wildlife officials, but the cloak of environmentalism seemed to protect this teacher from criticism or charges of cruelty among local officials. I'd bet the class is still conducted in the same way.”
“At my school, Columbus Day is called "Fall Holiday" for the exact reasons you stated: Indians died and we cannot honor a man who had anything to do with it. Apparently the fact that nearly every tribe of Indians practiced cannibalism, preformed human sacrifice, or committed genocide on one another is irrelevant. When we return to class next semester, we have an entire day devoted to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, two days after his holiday is celebrated. James Madison and the other Founding Fathers do not get nearly this much attention. Teachers here refer to the bombing of Japan in August 1945 as "The American Genocide" and how it killed thousands of Japanese citizens, yet leave out the fact that an estimated one million allied troops, as well as thousands more Japanese citizens, would have died in an invasion.”
The last statement was from a friend after his first week of college. Thankfully, unlike most, he was able to learn to think critically and sort through the brainwashing while in grade school; and, as you can see, he was thus better prepared to counter liberal indoctrination in college.
Copyright 2006 Ari Kaufman and Howie Satinoff
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