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Educating the Next Generation about Communism
I just returned from six days in Washington, D.C. teaching for the Victims of Communism (VOC) Memorial Foundation. This a terrific organization that is ramping-up its programming, especially in the area of education. Here is Dr. Murray Bessette describing their Education for the Millennial Generation program. VOC brought in 20 teachers for a three-day seminar and then repeated it with a second set of teachers.
Americans under 40 — whom I term the Millennial Plus generation — are for the most part ignorant when it comes to the history of communism and the Cold War. Having at best witnessed the events of the concluding decade of the conflict through a child’s eyes and experienced them with a child’s understanding—if they were alive at all—the Millennial Plus generation is in need of a comprehensive historical education that seeks to instill in them the truth about communism, its history, and its enduring legacy. Growing up in an era of unprecedented freedom and prosperity, and living lives that are only possible under such conditions, the Millennial Plus generation simply takes for granted the political and economic system bequeathed to them by the dedicated work of their ancestors. Most simply do not understand that prosperity depends upon freedom, that freedom is like water, utterly necessary to flourishing of any and every kind. To push this analogy a bit further, if freedom is like water, then the Millennial Plus generation are like fish swimming within it—and like fish, they pay no mind to the water despite its being necessary to their very existence.
Each day of the three-day program included two lectures/discussions by a professor/scholar and two pedagogy sessions using VOC curricular materials. I lectured on why communism must be understood as totalitarian: My first session focused on theoretical foundations and the second on the implementation and practice of totalitarianism. The teachers were also assigned readings for each session–my sessions included essays by Arendt, Solzhenitsyn, and Havel. Another scholar ran sessions on Adam Smith and Karl Marx and the third lectured on American foreign policy and the Cold War. In addition, the teachers learned a bit about the VOC and took a short walk to visit the Victims of Communism Memorial (pictured above). Each set of teachers also had the privilege of hearing a speech from one of two extraordinarily courageous men: YANG Jianli or HAN Lianchao, president and vice president of Initiatives for China respectively. Both men described in vivid detail what it meant to grow up in Communist China and spoke powerfully about the importance of the United States and what this country has meant to them. I was nearly moved to tears when, near the end of his speech, Dr. Han referred to “our Founding Fathers”(meaning Hamilton, Madison, etc.). Dr. Yang was part of the student movement and was in Tianamen Square and witnessed the massacre. He escaped to the United States shortly after but was arrested when he returned. He served five years in prison (15 of those months in solitary confinement).
Everyone seemed pleased with the how the educational program ran this year, so I expect the VOC would be doing something similar next summer. Ricochet educators should definitely apply. Most teachers worked in high schools but there were some who even taught 6th grade. Most teachers were either in government or history, but a few taught literature. There was also a very wide range of schools represented: private, public, charter, very rich, very poor, etc. Here is a link to information about their curriculum.
Published in Humor
No, I’m more on the curriculum/instruction end. But I do work closely with the English department at times.
I’ve had the same feeling of history repeating itself. I had a Jewish boyfriend in my 20s. His grandfather had escaped from Russia in 1917 by sneaking through fields on foot to the Austrian border. He told me that as late as the 1970s, if Stalin’s name was mentioned, his grandfather would cry.
Flagg,
How is this material doing in obtaining access to core curriculum in High Schools and Universities? With so much Howard Zinn CPA narratives running loose don’t you think it is imperative that a balancing narrative is heard by the young and impressionable?
How can we help?
Regards,
Jim
I’ll ask when I get there in July.
You could certainly donate to the VOC. More money means they can expand their programming and reach more high school teachers and sponsor more lectures and events on college campuses.