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July 22, 2021
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Just yesterday, I received an urgent letter from a reader –- a former teacher –- warning about the danger of leftist activism in schools. Here is what Amy had to say:

Sir, I’m a mom and a former teacher, and the direction we are going is very concerning to me. There used to be the understanding that crazy ideas would not get far. Unfortunately, now there are too many crazy ideas and they are not going away. Now we have reached the point where if you don’t stand up and disagree, then you are actually just acquiescing.

The left has created a CRT activist group for children called Diversify Our Narrative. The left are genius in how they have made activism for youth so simple that it requires absolutely no thought –- it actually works better if they don’t think.

I really feel like we need to use their template and create our own program only focused on teaching youth to be critical thinkers who evaluate the messages around them. I sound old to say this, but, back in my day, when journalism was taught, we were told to always ask who, what, when, where, and why. I think they are only taught to retweet and forward now. We have got to come up with a program that teaches critical thinking and combines that with community service and innovative solutions.

I really believe if we can get kids to start thinking and evaluating the information around them then they are not going to be as easy to turn into mindless liberal activists. I’m hoping that you might know where I can find a program that is out there like this or who I could talk to about creating this program.

Thank you so much for writing, Amy. If every kid could have a teacher like you, we’d have a lot more confidence in the future.

You’re right that it’s getting hard than ever to evaluate and determine what is “crazy.” It seems the indoctrinators of our kids are going by the principle that if everything is crazy, nothing is crazy. And they want parents to just stay out of it, which is, exactly as you say, acquiescing. One silver lining to the stormcloud of COVID is that kids and parents spent more time at home together. Kids started getting their lessons online at home, where parents often got a glimpse of their “classrooms” and were appalled at what they saw being taught. It took a few brave parents to stand against cancel culture and speak out, and now there are nationwide networks of parents working to fight leftist indoctrination in schools.

You are also very perceptive to say the activists’ goal is to separate ideology and activism from thought. In George Orwell’s book “1984,” there’s a Newspeak term called “duckspeak,” which means literally to quack like a duck, without thinking at all. It’s considered to be a good thing –- “doubleplusgood,” in fact. Here’s how Orwell described it:

“The intention was to make speech, and especially speech on any subject not ideologically neutral, as nearly as possible independent of consciousness. For the purposes of everyday life, it was no doubt necessary, or sometimes necessary, to reflect before speaking, but a Party member called upon to make a political or ethical judgment should be able to spray forth the correct opinion as automatically as a machine gun spraying forth bullets...Ultimately, it was hoped to make articulate speech issue from the larynx without involving the higher brain centers at all. This aim was frankly admitted in the Newspeak word “duckspeak,” meaning ‘to quack like a duck.’ [This word was] a warm and valued compliment.”

This is what they’re trying to do to kids. There’s no real thought involved in calling someone a “Nazi” or a “white supremacist” --- kids don’t even know what that really is. They don’t know what “capitalism” and “socialism” are, either. All such words have been conveniently redefined. We looked up “Diversify Our Narrative”; here’s the website:

https://www.diversifyournarrative.com

It says on their home page that they’re involved in 1) grassroots activism/policy change, 2) curriculum creation, 3) leadership development, and 4) educational resources and support. This is a new organization; they say that since June 2020, they’re in 800+ school districts. They're partnered with Generation UP, which fights for the College For All Act (free college); Bay Area Student Activists; the NFL (I am not kidding); and Justice In The Classroom –- check out their website at https://www.justiceintheclassroom.org

One strategy used by the proponents of Critical Race Theory is to name a study based on its principles something else and then deny they’re teaching CRT. Take a look at these sites, and it’s easy to see that this is just the same old leftist indoctrination, with the same cascade of buzzwords, perfect for duckspeak.

For example, the stated mission of Diversify Our Narrative is “to fight to be anti-racist and to encourage a productive dialogue on race and identity among our student bodies through the inclusion of racially diverse, anti-racist texts in USA schools; to work towards racial justice, educational equity and community power.” They address issues such as “systemic racism and microaggressions.” They “create curriculum centered around anti-racist teaching practices in the classroom.”

We also scrolled down their page of lesson plans, and this pretty much says it all…

https://www.diversifyournarrative.com/lesson-plans

While high school students in other countries are learning math and science, American kids taught with lesson plans from Diversify Our Narrative are learning “Exploring LGBTQ+/Immigrant Narratives Through Music,” “Analyzing Queer Dance,” “The New Jim Crow,” “Biology, Society and Policy,” “Acting Out: Resisting Policed Performances of Gender,” “The Intersection of Colonialism and Gender & Sexuality” (I am not kidding), and more.

Thanks, Amy, for bringing this to our attention. It’s true that we need to be at least as good as the left is when it comes to organizing. And YES –- you put it so well –- there needs to be a program that stresses critical thinking, community service and innovative solutions! Right now, I’d say critical thinking is the one that most desperately needs help.

For now, we wanted to alert you to this apparently very well organized group, Diversify Our Narrative. But we’ll also be working on a list of resources that offer strong lesson plans, especially for learning at home. (The best thing you can do for kids being force-fed anti-racist garbage is to take them out of their awful school.) Parents, grandparents, teachers and tutors: if you know of good curriculum plans and supplemental material for homeschoolers, please let us know, and we’ll pass that information along.

PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW! I READ THEM!

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Comments 21-30 of 44

  • Cristy

    07/22/2021 10:15 PM

    Yes, resources/lesson plans, ASAP, please!! Thanks.

  • Bob Kagels

    07/22/2021 09:42 PM

    I suggest checking out Hillsdale College. Their curriculum addresses many of the issues Amy raises. Well done, Amy!

  • Ed Thompson

    07/22/2021 09:25 PM

    Unless everyone, regardless of whether they have children going to a school or not, the people in this nation had better wake up and realize what some people are trying to do to this and other generations of the future of America. If this isn’t stopped soon we might as well surrender America to the people who are waiting to walk in and take over.

  • hilda foley

    07/22/2021 09:22 PM

    texas tech long distance learning for K thru 12 has been excellent in the past.
    if the student graduates, it means automatic acceptance into texas tech university in lubbock, texas.
    thank you, sir.
    blessings,
    hilda foley

  • Darrell Moeck

    07/22/2021 09:13 PM

    "We have got to come up with a program that teaches critical thinking and combines that with community service and innovative solutions.

    I really believe if we can get kids to start thinking and evaluating the information around them then they are not going to be as easy to turn into mindless liberal activists. I’m hoping that you might know where I can find a program that is out there like this or who I could talk to about creating this program." (Amy).

    Amen, Amy...I have been saying this mantra for decades. I personally believe "CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS" will save these United States. Learning how to think critically on each issue is different from teaching these skills with teaching much harder. As a starting point, I direct you
    to a Youtube series by Dr. Jorden B. Peterson (https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dr+jordan+b+peterson+youtube+critical+thinking&docid=608035526627633798&mid=FD58B48092E497F98FAAFD58B48092E497F98FAA&view=detail&FORM=VIRE). Parents can help their children think critically by asking them to examine both sides (or all sides) of any issue before they articulate an answer. Studying vocabulary (definitions & how-to-use words) and writing will
    stimulate critical thinking in your child. Instead of accepting media's narrative/school's narrative/friend's narrative on anything, critical thinking skills will elevate each child to provide
    an alternative to the norm.

  • John Fittz

    07/22/2021 08:22 PM

    Hillsdale College has classical education curriculum on-line for free. I'm sure you can't get any better than what Hillsdale College produces. They have charter schools in at least a dozen locations that are using their K-12 curriculum, so it is tested and effective.

  • Sherry Arrick

    07/22/2021 07:30 PM

    The Texas Homeschool Coalition does a great job of finding and recommending good curricula for parents to teach! [email protected]

  • Laura Young

    07/22/2021 07:30 PM

    I, too, am a retired school teacher. Unlike many of my colleagues especially in cities, I am a conservative. It never occurred to me to bring politics into my classroom. Politics and religion were specifically forbidden by the school district's policy. The only way to fight this is to 1) show that it is a political movement, not a racial one and 2) develop our own curriculum to combat it. I believe that home schooling is the best option in the near future until we can make the pendulum swing back to make some sense. Until then, there is a group, Moms for Liberty, that is fighting CRT. Here is the link to the website. https://www.momsforliberty.org/
    Thanks, Mike. Keep it real for us.

    Laura

  • Joan Felton

    07/22/2021 04:42 PM

    I look foreward every day to reading your column. I didn't get it the last 2 days. Please don't drop me.

  • Elaine M Liming

    07/22/2021 04:32 PM

    I wrote you a long e-mail and suddenly it was gone. I agree with the teacher that wrote to you. I am a former teacher. I help teachers still teaching in my retirement and hear their woes--many can't wait for retirement. Getting teachers involved in media literacy education gives them what they need to develop higher lever skills of critical thinking. Here is my list of web sites that parents and teachers can trust. 1, NAMLE 2. Cyber Wise 3. Project Look Sharp at Ithaca College NY 4. Pauline Media Los Angeles 5. Renee Hobbs at the media Lab at URI Rhode Island 6. Center for Media Literacy Los Angeles Sister Liz Thoman was the first to recognize we need media literacy education in this century in order for Democracy to continue. We were so behind Canada, United Kingdom and Australia that she went to Washington and talked with our last three Presidents to get media literacy curriculum on all state's curriculum. Her materials are now part of the archives at URI. Not all states have media literacy on their curriculum but about 27 do. If you go to NAMLE website you check their goals---you will see the higher levels of thinking addressed to everything we do and say--all the media--movies to the old fashion newspaper. I taught a unit on advertising to my high school students and they came to realize how they were a target group. What they learned that week they will never forget. 7. The Center for Media Literacy Education in Los Angeles was founded by Sister Liz--she died a few years ago, I was one of her students and did workshops for teachers on Media Literacy in my area. I was a religion teacher so I applied media literacy to our studies-- Questions like what do you think Jesus would have to say about fake news? Some students said but some people think the Bible is fake? What do you need to do to help them see the Light?
    I hope this provides the kind of listing you asked for--please research these web sites--teachers and parents need help. Thank you for all you do. May the Lord continue to bless you and your family. I thank God everyday for people like you. I live in Hope that people in our country will work at getting involved and stop the craziness and be more informed when they vote.