Covid Exposed the Fall of Education Like Nothing Else

By David Barnhizer

The Covid-19 virus attack actually had a single good side, along with its tragic costs. It is that if the K-12 schools had not abandoned in-person teaching and shifted to online computer and Zoom classes, parents would never have discovered that their children were being brainwashed. When that shift occurred, parents all over the nation, as well as state legislatures, governors, politicians, school boards, state boards of education, public interest organizations, and the like suddenly “AWoke” to the dangers of “Wokeness.”

This spread to the various manifestations of the theme of “Anti-Racism” being trumpeted by Critical Race Theory activists. Whatever the name concocted to conceal what is occurring, “Anti-Racism” is itself a new and dangerous form of Neo-Racism hidden behind linguistic masks and formulations.

K-12 Education is a “Critical” Target for the Woke Because That is When Children Are Most Vulnerable and Susceptible

In the K-12 system, teachers are dealing with highly suggestive children whose minds are still developing. Many are vulnerable, anxious, and in the early phases of trying to understand the world into which they have been thrust. They see teachers as strong, caring, and nurturing authority figures. For such young people, ideological systems such as Critical Race Theory can be perceived as powerful and prophetic, regardless of how CRT is restated for political purposes. The practitioners of Wokeism, CRT, and Radical Progressivism—like the earlier European “Deconstructionists” to whom they owe allegiance—use continually shifting landscapes made up of “big” words that can be made to mean anything the advocates choose.

This manipulation of powerful and moralistic constructs establishes control and creates what philosopher Eric Hoffer called “true believers.” Hoffer, in The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951), described how the “fault finding man of words” attacks a dominant orthodoxy in order to undermine its perceived legitimacy and hold on power. This is one function of the intellectual, but due to the combination of naivete and self-interest, few intellectual “prophets” have the experience or wisdom needed to prepare for what occurs after they have helped others gain power.

Francois Furet, for example, describes the treatment of intellectuals under Soviet Marxism, a situation in which the Marxist revolutionaries had first relied on such intellectuals to create cracks in the defenses of the existing political system in Europe and Russia. In Russia, following the 1917 Revolution, the newly installed Soviet Marxists either co-opted the intellectuals into becoming state propagandists, exiled or executed them if it was determined they posed a danger to the State. See, Francois Furet, The Passing of an Illusion: The Idea of Communism in the Twentieth Century (1999).

The problem is that once in power, revolutionary ideologues who base their crusades on claims of hate, oppression, injustice, and inequity, always themselves become the “Oppressors.” The Soviet Marxists ruthlessly suppressed independent thought and subverted the less conscientious or more cowardly intellectuals into serving the ends of the totalitarian state. They understood, as did Mao Zedong, that naive and uncontrolled intellectuals, “Liberals” as Mao wrote in a 1937 tract, because they asked too many questions and challenged authority and were therefore dangerous to those now in power.

In the preliminary stages, this is what is occurring in America with the Woke, Crits, and Radical Progressives. They are seeking nothing less than to undermine and weaken the unique system America represents, and effectively parallel what occurred in Europe to facilitate the rise of the Soviet Union. The reality for us at this point is that we are not as naive, and unless we are stupid or an agent of the Progressive “revolutionaries” know what lies on the “other side” of their “revolutionary transformation” if they are successful.

There should be no doubt that what is playing out in America’s schools and core institutions is a “stealth” strategy involving brainwashing, indoctrination, and power-grabbing—not honest teaching. The intention is to create a kind of quasi-religious devotion operating through the dynamics of “original sin” and “collective guilt” that appeals to our need to be part of something we think is deep, moral, and worthwhile.

An important part of this strategy involves taking control of the instruments of education and communication. When this is achieved, it allows those in power to shape what people know, how they think, and how they interpret the world. Applying this strategic approach to America’s K-12 educational systems is a critical step being taken by the Woke. Capturing our youths’ minds at an early age consolidates and sustains the power of ideologues and fanatics. It provides them with a critical mass of “true believers” that grows steadily over time.

This phenomenon holds true whether we are talking about Xi Jinping’s China of today with his mandating of “Xi Jinping Thought” to all schools in China at all levels, or Mao’s Red Guard. It mirrors the intent of the madrassa schools of Fundamentalist Islam, the Hitler Youth of Nazi Germany, and the young Komsomol of the former Soviet Union who brought their heavily biased form of literacy to rural areas. It applies now to many of America’s K-12 schools and universities. Yale, James Madison, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Syracuse, Portland State, Buffalo, and numerous other universities offer dramatic and dismaying examples.

“The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.” 

—Diogenes

The ancient Greek philosopher and Cynic Diogenes purportedly carried a lantern in the streets of Athens in an unsuccessful search for an “honest man.” However dismaying his search, he provides us with the vital insight that: “The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.” As you read the examples offered below, consider what is being done and what has already been done to the minds and hearts of our children and the consequences for our society.

An Example from an 8-Year-Old Child: “This ‘feels’ like racism to me”

At the center of the Woke/Crit effort to control our educational processes is injecting their agenda and concepts at our children’s most vulnerable points. Canadian writer Barbara Kay related her experience with her eight-year-old granddaughter.

True story—My 8-year-old granddaughter and her mother were working on a jigsaw puzzle, an image of a cat’s face surrounded by black background. We adults were complaining about the difficulty of joining up so many all-black pieces. My granddaughter said, without a shred of irony, “This feels like racism to me.” Well, her remark felt like “Crimestop” to me. In George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, children absorb the principle of Crimestop, a trope from Newspeak, the totalitarian regime’s language. Crimestop is the abrupt, instinctual, fear-driven self-silencing that precludes utterance of politically incorrect words that may invoke shaming or worse. My granddaughter’s public school teachers have apparently installed a Crimestop-like app in her tender psyche: Just hearing the disembodied word “black” voiced in a mildly negative light triggers rote guilt in her.

It’s Never Too Early for the Woke:

Babies Apparently Need Anti-Racism “Guidance”

“The Arizona Department of Education is conducting a review of its equity-related resources after material surfaced suggesting that babies and children of other ages harbored racial biases that should be addressed by adults. [T]he material warns that at three months, infants look more at the faces that match the race of their caregivers. A graphic maps out purported racial biases from infancy to 6+ years of age. [Not taking steps to prevent the bias in favor of their White caregivers] forces racism by letting children draw their own conclusions based on what they see,” the graphic reads. The title of the graphic appears to be “They’re not too young to talk about race!” “Arizona teaching material suggests babies need anti-racism guidance: ‘Silence about race reinforces racism by letting children draw their own conclusions,’ the material says,” Sam Dorman, 7/8/21.

“KinderCare Wants Parents to Talk about ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ at Home with Their Six-Week-Old Children”

“A for-profit child care facility is encouraging parents to talk about “anti-racism” and “diversity, equity, and inclusion” at home with their children as young as six weeks old. KinderCare … is telling parents that “it’s never too early” to teach children about “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) in the home. The organization’s DEI homepage promised to introduce students to “culturally responsive teaching,” which places students’ identity and emotions at the center of their education.”

Oregon’s Kindergartners Are Already Being Separated

Into Their Differing “Identities!”

“The state of Oregon has adopted social studies standards for kindergartners that require children to understand their own identity groups and identify examples of racial injustice.…Kindergartners will “engage in respectful dialogue with classmates to define diversity comparing and contrasting visible and invisible similarities and differences,” according to the new standards. Kindergartners will also learn to “develop an understanding of one’s own identity groups including, but not limited to, race, gender, family, ethnicity, culture, religion, and ability,”…according to the new standards.

Kids in first grade will learn to “describe how individual and group characteristics are used to divide, unite, and categorize racial, ethnic, and social groups,” according to the new standards. Kids in second grade will learn how to “use listening, consensus-building, and voting procedures to decide on and take informed action to interrupt injustice or promote justice in their community.” Kids in third grade will learn how to “identify how systems of power, including white supremacy, institutional racism, racial hierarchy, and oppression affect the perspectives of different individuals and groups when examining an event, issue, or problem with an emphasis on multiple perspectives.” “Oregon’s racial standards for kindergartners requires kids to ‘identify possible solutions to injustices:’ The standards also require kindergartners to ‘identify examples of unfairness.,” Jessica Chasmar, 3/14/22.

The Bank School “is teaching white 6-year-olds they’re born racist”

Another example of what happens when a dominant orthodoxy gains control is offered in a report involving the Bank School, long considered an elite early educational institution. As you read the paragraph below, think about the effects such procedures can have. They include the intensification of class divisions, the inculcation of “Original Sin” as a core perception of self among very young children in the critical formative years of their early development, and the creation of a divisive creed of “Black Supremacy” to replace the broad brush accusation of “White Supremacy.” What is the Bank School doing?

“An elite Manhattan school is teaching white students as young as 6 that they’re born racist and should feel guilty benefiting from “white privilege,” while heaping praise and cupcakes on their black peers. … [S]everal other private New York schools are doing it, but even liberal parents aren’t buying it. … “Ever since Ferguson, the school has been increasing anti-white propaganda in its curriculum,” said a parent who requested anonymity because he has children currently enrolled in the school.” “Teaching Kindergartners about White Privilege,” 7/2/16.

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Via https://brownstone.org/articles/covid-exposed-the-fall-of-education-like-nothing-else/