Sunday, January 27, 2008

Leftist revisionism coming to a theater near you

Have you ever heard of a book called A People's History of the United States by former Boston College professor Howard Zinn? The book is a favorite of leftists everywhere because its narrative of the history of our country is one of racism, subjugation, genocide, and imperialism. While I don't deny that some of these things took place, Zinn essentially ignores anything good this country has ever done - and the list is distinguished - and makes us the focus of evil in the modern world. When the facts don't fit his narrative, he simply makes stuff up to fill in the holes.

Actor Matt Damon grew up with Howard Zinn as his next-door neighbor. Damon is an ultra-leftist in his own right, and is planning to make a film out of Zinn's magnum opus, with a who's-who of Hollywood leftdom serving as readers. I have no doubt that if this film is made, it will be as popular in America's classrooms as An Inconvenient Truth is now.

For more about what a crock of steaming pile A People's History of the United States really is, do yourself a favor and read this Frontpagemag.com article by Dan Flynn, where he takes you into the mind of Howard Zinn, complete with his white guilt and hatred of the country that has purchased over a million copies of his book since its release in 1980.

Just some of many points that Flynn makes in his article include:
...Zinn sarcastically adds, “When we look at the American Revolution this way, it was a work of genius, and the Founding Fathers deserve the awed tribute they have received over the centuries. They created the most effective system of national control devised in modern times, and showed future generations of leaders the advantages of combining paternalism with command.” Rather than the spark that lit the fire of freedom and self-government throughout much of the world, the American Founding is portrayed as a diabolically creative way to ensure oppression. If the Founders wanted a society they could direct, why didn’t they put forth a dictatorship or a monarchy resembling most other governments at the time? Why go through the trouble of devising a constitution guaranteeing rights, mass political participation, jury trials, and checks on power? Zinn doesn’t explain, contending that these freedoms and rights were merely a facade designed to prevent class revolution...

More striking than Zinn’s inaccuracies—intentional and otherwise—is what he leaves out. Washington’s Farewell Address, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and Reagan’s speech at the Brandenburg Gate all fail to merit a mention. Nowhere do we learn that Americans were first in flight, first to fly across the Atlantic, and first to walk on the moon. Alexander Graham Bell, Jonas Salk, and the Wright Brothers are entirely absent. Instead, the reader is treated to the exploits of Speckled Snake, Joan Baez, and the Berrigan brothers. While Zinn sees fit to mention that immigrants often went into professions like ditch-digging and prostitution, American success stories like those of Alexander Hamilton, John Jacob Astor, and Louis B. Mayer—to name but a few—are excluded. Valley Forge rates a single fleeting reference, while D-Day’s Normandy invasion, Gettysburg, and other important military battles are left out. In their place, we get several pages on the My Lai massacre and colorful descriptions of U.S. bombs falling on hotels, air-raid shelters, and markets during the Gulf War of the early 1990s....
If you want a real history of our country, buy the book I am currently reading: A Patriot's History of the United States. It pulls no punches, it mentions the bad things our country has done, but it also has no problem pointing out the good we have done in the world. In other words, it's fair and objective... imagine that.

Good Day to You, Sir

5 comments:

Darren said...

*link*

Ellen K said...

I am constantly amazed at what my students don't know about their own nation's history. It seems that the idea of cause and effect is more important than the key documents of our civilization. Their ignorance becomes even more apparent when you teach a related class, like AP Art History. I mention cultures from the great civilizations and they act as if nothing existed outside of the Mediterranean. As for the PC version of history, most competent teacher that I know use outside sources for history classes anyway. And since my son will graduate with a degree in history, and probably end up teaching, I know that it what he will do as well. The purchase of this textbook by school boards is nothing short of subsidy for leftist thought. I will be making people aware of this on my blogs. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Zinn's book has been used in the AP U.S. History program at school.

George

Unknown said...

I'm reading Patriot's History too. Picked it up at the Valley Forge bookstore, which you will be glad to know is free of moonbattiness.

Anonymous said...

I'm one of those 40-somethings that has returned to school to finish my degree (History). We were subjected to Howard Zinn's skewering of Columbus early on. This prompted me to do a little research on the man. He is a rabid Marxist who blames America for all the ills of the world.

I am told that William Bennett has written a two volume work on America's history that is superb.