Marxism Runs Red In The Classroom

That Jay Bennish, the teacher in Colorado caught on tape espousing extreme left political views, is making such big news is interesting. The question might be why is his story such a newsworthy one? Bennish himself seems to think the problem was that he should have "picked a different dictator". I'm not sure if he meant Hitler or if he thought Bush was a dictator, but the effect remains. I don't think necessarily that this story is newsworthy because he got taped. I think it is newsworthy because it finally brings to light the fact that his views are more mainstream among high school teachers and professors than we would care to admit.

In my own little corner of the world, at IUPUI's university campus, a professor I had the misfortune of dealing with recently made clear to his students at the beginning of his Western Civ II class his views. He noted the first day that he was a devout Marxist, that much of the class would focus on Marx's teachings and subsequent thought, and that he didn't give a damn if anyone wanted to debate him on it, because not only would the be simply wrong, they would not pass his class. Although the person involved didn't have a tape, that is a fairly accurate summation of what transpired. Bear in mind again, this was not a history of Marxism class or a philosophy class that focused on modern writers like Karl Marx. It was a WESTERN CIV II class.

This class covered the history of western civilization from 1500 to present. Now, being a bit of a history buff myself, I'm aware of a lot of history that's transpired since then and I'm pretty sure Marx was a fairly small part of it. Nowhere had I seen that neomarxism, like he championed by having the class read the book, Empire, was a driving or dominant enough force in history to manhandle the better part of the lecture. But there it was. This prof was clearly only interested in pushing his agenda on malleable teens that his leftist, neoMarxist view of the world was the eye-opening truth they'd been waiting for all their lives.

Again, I don't see these as isolated examples. I see them as small glimpses into a world where our kids go to get indoctrinated by those at war with many of the core beliefs of this nation and certainly the core beliefs of many of the kids' parents.

But Rob, you say, this is academia. Kids are supposed to be exposed to new ideas and challenged like that. And what about the First Amendment, Rob? You champion that when conservatives and libertarians are talking! What about these poor teachers?

As these are common questions, I thought them worth including (albeit with a bit of mockery, I must admit). Yes, kids should always be exposed to new ideas. It is the purview of their parents, though, to decide which of those views and ideas they think are correct and certainly parents should play the biggest role in shaping their childrens' worldview. I'd agree with that statement if we were talking about a conservative parent, a liberal one, or a neoMarxist. I also believe that teachers should have enough academic freedom to state such ideas without fear of censorship or public debasement, within certain limits. Aha, you say! There's the rub, even you would limit free speech!

Nothing of the kind. These teachers work inside of institutions that are paid for by the public, alumni, and parents and the kids who attend said schools. They're really just employees selling a product, and no matter what they may think of their esteemed profession, if no one wants to listen to their rhetoric, they shouldn't have to. Professors and teachers undertake a noble profession, but they are also figures of authority that young impressionable minds feel will treat them with honesty and open debate. I don't see either of those in such examples, or the myriad of others exposed places like in David Horowitz' new book, the Professors.

Also, these professors have a duty to present the facts. In such cases, I don't really see them doing this. English teachers, geography teachers, and math teachers spouting off their personal political viewpoints as something students must absorb and digest is ridiculous and I don't see a free speech case there. History teachers fare a little better in this regard (maybe even the aforementioned geography teacher), but they should allow for their arguments to be challenged in class. If not, are we not violating those students' First Amendment rights instead? The whole "free speech" argument is somewhat specious anyway, since it usually governs local universities or private institutions regulating what their employees say. The First Amendment was never meant to cover this.

In summation, Bennish had no right to be spouting his Marxist political dogma on young highschoolers anymore than I have a right to go to that same school and spout off my views. Stick to the subjects, teach the kids what they need to know, and offer them real options that will let them explore the whole left/right thing on their own. One wonders if such political indoctrination attempts contribute at all to the declining quality of our high school and college graduates. I'd have to answer strongly in the affirmative.