The high school in Pittsburgh that I attended has inscribed over its portal the words “The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.” The quote is widely attributed to Diogenes.
In view of the current state of education in this country, the quote may as well be altered to read “The foundation of every state is the indoctrination of its youth.” (Runner-up quote: “Black lives matter.”)
As Hans Bader noted yesterday, another institution in my hometown, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, has taken extreme disciplinary action, dismissing a program director for daring to challenge what has become the new “establishment” line.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
And now the ax has fallen again halfway across the country, at Palatine High School in Illinois. Via Reclaim the Net:
Jeanne Hedgepeth, a Palatine High … social studies teacher, has been fired over one of her social media posts. …
“I am about facts, truth-seeking and love,” Hedgepeth wrote in the Facebook post that led to her termination. “I will speak on any topic I choose because I live in a free country. I find the term ‘white privilege’ as racist as the ‘N’ word. You have not walked in my shoes either so do not make assumptions about me and my so called privilege. You think America is racist? Then you’ve been hoodwinked by the white liberal establishment and race baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Travel the world and go see that every nation has racism and some more than others but few make efforts such as we do to mitigate or eliminate it.” (RELATED: Oprah during race seminar: ‘Whiteness’ gives you an advantage no matter what)
She also recommended the work of economist Thomas Sowell, political commentator and activist Candace Owens, and author and radio host Larry Elder.
As though her grave weren’t already dug deep enough, Hedgepeth “argued that there is a ‘deeper problem than racism'” and urged “the black community to stop believing ‘Democrats, mainstream media and intellectuals in ivory towers.’”
The rest is history, albeit not the kind Hedgepeth teaches. There was an “internal investigation,” whatever that means in this case, and the school board voted to show Hedgepeth the door.
Time was when people who claim to be “of conscience” were content to seek to ensure equality for all as our founding fathers defined it. Somewhere along the line that goal was perversely modified to permit — nay, encourage — overt attacks on a class of people “based on the color of their skin.”
Palatine High School also has proud words at its entrance, where a sign identifies it as a “United States Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence & New American High School.”
What a joke.
