Happy Birthday America ... We hate you!

  … Signed Progressives. P. S. We even tried to remove July 4 Independence Day from Texas public school curriculum. Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas  Today as Part V in our Continuing Series Texas Author Bill Ames writes about how leftists demonstrate their contempt for America currently and during the 2009 development of U. S. history standards in Texas public schools. Further their efforts actually contributed to the U.S. Communist Partys Agenda to take over America.   Bill Ames new book TEXAS TROUNCES THE LEFTS WAR ON HISTORY tells the story of how a proposed negative history standard for Texas public schools was transformed into a positive balanced view of  U. S. history that will make our Texas students proud to be Americans. Happy Birthday America ... We hate you! By Bill Ames Early in June this year a kindergarten class in New York citys Edna Cohen PS 90 school was rehearsing the Lee Greenwood song God Bless the USA" to be performed during its graduation ceremony program.  During the rehearsal principal Greta Hawkins marched in and directed the teachers to remove the song from the program saying We dont want to offend other cultures". Perhaps principal Hawkins did not want to offend the black liberation theology of Reverend Jeremiah Wrights God damn America".  Or perhaps she did not want to offend Michelle Obama who once proclaimed that she had been Ashamed of America her entire adult life". But the students did not give up.  Although the song was banned from the graduation ceremony the children organized their own rally outside the school and sang the song anyway. Incredibly progressive adults still did not let the five-year-old children sing in peace.  Rather a group showed up and heckled the children as they sang.

You Republicans go to a Republican area and do that we dont do that here" one of the hecklers said. This is ridiculous this is sad. This is so crazy. This is sad." The kids dont even know what theyre singing" another protester commented. They got something you tell them to say. Its ridiculous. Its sad sad sad. You all are going to burn in hell. You all burn in hell. Shame on you. Shame on you." At one point a tattooed protester cursed. You got a right to make noise I got a right to make noise" another  protester said.

Kindergarten children told by adults that they will burn in hell?  Progressives who anoint themselves as the bastions of tolerance are the least tolerant of all.  The double standard is incredible. Flashback to 2009. The story about the lefts anti-American anti-Christian bullying of kindergarten kids in New York city brings back memories of my experience in 2009.  I was a member of a nine-person review panel charged by the Texas State Board of Education with revising and updating the ten year old standards for the 11^th grade United States history curriculum. Of the nine review panel members I was the only conservative and the only non-educator.  The politics of the teacher members ranged from leftof center to having outright contempt for America.  During the 2009 meetings I was outvoted eight to one on nearly every issue. In October we released our proposed U. S. history standards to the State Board for review and approval.  The document portrayed an unmistakably negative view of our history and in my opinion was unacceptable.  The review panel members were poised to bully Texas 11^th grade students indoctrinating them with their anti-American anti-Christian history curriculum.

Another review panel had even removed July 4 Independence Day from the social studies standards.   In the progressives view it is no longer a good thing to have students study the celebration of our independence.

Back to the present. On June 26 while delivering a presentation about my experience on the panel I was asked Where does the progressives hatred and contempt for America come from?". Pondering the question I recalled that in 1958 conservative United States author and faith-based political theorist Cleon Skousen released his book The Naked Communist.  On January 10 1963 Congressman Albert Herlong of Florida read the books main content Communisms 45 goals to destroy the United States into the Congressional Record. Not surprisingly the review panels proposed content of the history standards aligns with many of these communist goals and thus the question from the audience is answered. Lets review some examples of how review panels actions attempted to advance the communist agenda: Communist goal #17:  Get control of the schools.  Use them as transmission belts for socialism and propaganda. Review panels:  Texas education code requires that review panels consist of a mixture of educators business people parents and citizens.  In clear violation only three non-educators (and the only conservatives) served with some 100 educators on the 15 review panels. The TEA refused to take action to balance the panels.  The politics of the educators was highly skewed to the left.  Review panel educators had been generally recruited by Texas teachers unions the left-leaning Texas Council for Social Studies and members of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff.  These leftist teachers worked to create proposals that advocated socialism and leftist propaganda. Communist goal #30:  Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Review panels:  My history review panel refused to include the Celebrate Freedom Week principles into the history standards. Celebrate Freedom Week lessons include the Founding Fathers Christian principles and captures their intent in creating the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution including the Bill of Rights.  The review panel did not want to include discussion of Americas founding in the standards. Communist goal #29:  Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate old fashioned and out of step with modern needs. Review panels:  With respect to the discussions of religion and government the history review panel ignored the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment focusing instead on the pop culture ACLU-promoted separation of church and state" mantra. Communist goal #31:  Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the grounds that it is a minor part of the big picture. Review panels:  The history review panel rejected my proposal to include the culture of American Exceptionalism in the standards by an eight to one vote.  The United States is an exceptional nation. Most Americans would not regard that as a controversial statement. And with good reason: it is true. The opposition to my proposal was ruthless.  An assistant professor of history at the University of Texas El Paso and a member of my review panel offered public testimony at an SBOE meeting contending that the concept of American Exceptionalism is just an example of conservative wishful thinking" a bogus myth" and a false idolatrous image of what America really is". As for America being just a part of the big picture the kindergarten and first grade review panels encouraged children to consider themselves as global citizens rather than American citizens. Communist goal #26:  Present homosexuality as a normal natural and healthy lifestyle.

Review Panels:  In a letter to the State Board of Education dated May 8 2010 six members of the history review panel wrote ….our negotiations reflected an enthusiasm for content and diversity.……Several of us had hoped to introduce the civil rights efforts of ….(long list of different groups)…. and the GLBT (Gay lesbian bisexual transgender) community…."

Communist goal #40:  Discredit the family as an institution.

Review panel:  In the standard describe various beliefs customs language and traditions of families and explain their importance" the first grade review panel changed families" to communities". Also the world history review panel removed the words children and families" from two standards:

Culture. The student understands the roles of women children and families in different historical cultures….and analyze the specific changing roles of women children and families during major eras of world history.

In the shared beliefs of the review panel members and the communist party families are no longer the major societal unit as government takes over the role. Communist goal #12:  Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist party. Communist goal #34:  Eliminate the House Committee on un-American activities. Review panel:  In their communism-sympathizing mindset the review panel  attacked Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee for their attempt to identify and expose communist agents who had infiltrated the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. Further they ignored (by as I recall another eight to one vote) my plea to describe how the later release of the Venona papers confirmed American suspicions regarding communist infiltration". Communist goal #8:  Consider East and West Germany as separate states. Review panel:   The review panel rejected my proposal to add President Reagans Tear Down This Wall" speech to the history standards. Communist goal #22:  Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression.

Review panel:  My review panel added nihilistic hip hop music to the culture strand. It does not take a rocket scientist to conclude that hip hop music and its closely related genre gangsta rap promotes degradation of women violence profanity racism promiscuity rape street gangs drive-by shootings vandalism drug dealing and alcohol and substance abuse and as such was an objectionable addition to the history curriculum.

Communist goal #42:  Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special interest groups should rise up to solve economic political or social problems.

Review panel:  My review panel rejected my proposal to substitute non-violent protesting" for protesting" in the standard

• …identify and analyze methods of expanding the right to participate in the democratic process including lobbying protesting litigation and amendments to the U.S. Constitution…"

A significant aside here.  It is worth noting that on June 8 2012 Marxist  writer John Case wrote an article in the Communinist Party USAs publication Peoples World titled The Danger of a Romney Election":

• ….re-electing Obama is absolutely essential….Only a different class configuration in political power can do necessary minimum reforms to give us a chance."

Although I lived in the trenches throughout 2009 with this review panels contempt for American values I was nevertheless surprised by how closely their agenda lined up with that of the communists. Fortunately when review panel proposals were forwarded to the conservative-majority State Board of Education for review modification and adoption the Board exercised adult supervision over the panel resulting in a balanced view of U. S. history that Constitutional expert David Barton called The best social studies standards since before World War II". My book TEXAS TROUNCES THE LEFTS WAR ON HISTORY tells the story of how the proposed negative history standard was transformed into a positive balanced view of U. S. history that will make our Texas students proud to be Americans. Bill Ames is an education activist who lives in Dallas. He has worked on Texas curriculum and textbook issues beginning in 2001. He spent much of 2009 as a member of the review panel for U. S. history. Ames book TEXAS TROUNCES THE LEFTS WAR ON HISTORY can be ordered at www.WNAenterprises.com.