Earlier this month, children at public schools across the country walked out of class in political protest. Teachers, backed by powerful unions, were allowed to encourage our children to stand for radical progressive ideology. This is not the first time in history we have seen political actors weaponize children. Parents, it’s time to start asking: why are our schools being turned into political indoctrination mills and who is behind it?
On May 1 of this year, progressives staged a May Day Strong National Day of Protest. There were signs like “People Over Billionaires,” because in our “Eat the Rich” political environment, successful business owners are no longer people, according to the Left. There were calls to disband Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) because removing violent criminals who entered our country illegally is wrongly seen as the height of injustice. There were vague calls for “affordability,” which in Socialist speak is shorthand for redistribution and using other people’s money.
America is facing a growing Socialist contagion. Progressives have the right to publicly advocate for their ideas. They also have to be prepared to debate other points of view. However, where I, and countless other Mama Bears, draw the line is when these political extremists weaponize our kids.
One of the groups funding and organizing May Day protests? The National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers’ union in the United States. That’s right, the public school teachers had the backing and direction of the teachers’ union to encourage our children to join their radical political ideology. They cancelled a day of academic learning in service of half-baked, divisive political rhetoric and action.
The students know what is happening. In an interview, students explained that most of their teachers were “pretty on board” with the protest and highly encouraged students to attend. One student noted that the protest was originally for the teachers’ union, so it made sense that they cancelled class and wanted the students to demonstrate.
It can be tempting to think that the solution is simply firing bad teachers and getting rid of the radicalized teachers’ unions. The problem is much deeper than that. Yes, there is a serious problem when teachers cancel school to push political ideology at a time when math and reading scores are plummeting. We need to address that in our local school boards and in our neighborhood schools. But that is not addressing the root of the problem.
Socialism and progressivism are the new names for Communism, a godless political movement that has led to the deaths of millions of people across the world. The people behind this political movement know, as Hitler famously proclaimed, "He alone who owns the youth gains the future." Nazi Germany organized the Hitler Youth, and Mao Zedong created the Red Guard of politically radicalized children. Now, we see teachers training our children to hate America and to reject the values of faith, family, and freedom. The motive is the same: capture the youth and gain power in the future.
We are not dealing with one bad administration or one bad crop of teachers. We are facing a godless political movement hundreds of years in the making that has no respect for the innocence of children. If you still fail to see the significance, take a look at Mao’s transformation of China. When he was in danger of being ousted, Mao decided to close the schools. Eyewitness accounts testify to the way classrooms were shuttered in favor of pure political propaganda. Instead of learning language and math, children were trained to memorize Mao quotes and given permission to rove about the country destroying everything old. They were sent out to enact a political revolution. Evil political actors see children as the perfect pawns because they are uneducated and can be swayed.
Parents should be outraged by the May Day protests. Classrooms were closed and impressionable students were sent into the streets to chant political slogans. We have seen this playbook before, and we know where it leads.
We should also not be naïve about how deep and how widespread this problem is. When Ezra Benson, the Secretary of Agriculture under Eisenhower, met with Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the USSR, at the height of the Cold War, Khrushchev told Benson:
"You Americans are so gullible. No, you won’t accept Communism outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you’ll finally wake up and you find you already have Communism. We won’t have to fight you. We’ll weaken your economy until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands."
What our children are up against is a political movement that is designed to crush and enslave them, to separate them from their parents and family and teach them to hate America. Only when we are honest about the extent of the threat can we hope to prevail. The May Day protests are a clear example of the political animosity and ruthless strategy of the modern Left.
We can no longer dismiss this as isolated incidents, hiding our heads in the sand, thinking it doesn’t affect us. The anti-American elites are after our children. We can no longer ignore it. Our children are counting on us to stand against this elitist takeover of our country. It's time we get off the sidelines, defend our freedoms and protect our children’s future. We are the only ones that can.