The left’s efforts to tear down the past may have started with the toppling of historical statues, but it is now working its way into other areas such as literature and education.
A teacher in Lawrence, Massachusetts, recently claimed on Twitter that Homer’s Odyssey had been removed from the curriculum.
This all came up because of a column in the Wall Street Journal by Meghan Cox Gurdon. Although the WSJ piece is behind a paywall, Chris Pandolfo of The Blaze has details:
Report: Massachusetts school bans ‘The Odyssey’ as progressives demand purge of classicsA Massachusetts school has reportedly removed “The Odyssey” from its English curriculum as progressive education activists and critical race theory ideologues seek to “disrupt texts” by purging material they deem objectionable from classrooms.Meghan Cox Gurdon, in an opinion column for the Wall Street Journal, wrote about a “sustained effort” by “critical-theory ideologues, schoolteachers and Twitter agitators” to “deny children access to literature.” These activists object to classic texts, such as Homer’s Odyssey or Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter,” because they allege such texts may teach “racism, sexism, ableism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hate.””The subtle complexities of literature are being reduced to the crude clanking of ‘intersectional’ power struggles,” Gurdon wrote.She quoted from an article by young-adult novelist Padma Venkatraman published in the School Library Journal, that claims “challenging old classics is the literary equivalent of replacing statues of racist figures.”
Gurdon’s column included this Twitter exchange. The response is from a woman who identifies as a teacher in Lawrence, MA:
Gurdon claims she contacted this teacher for confirmation but says she was told her inquiry was “abrasive.”
Since then, the teacher has posted the following on Twitter:
There is an ongoing debate over ‘Disrupt Texts,’ with critics claiming it is just the latest effort to introduce Critical Race Theory in public schools.
There’s no question that the left is driving public education in this direction. The question that remains is how long parents and taxpayers will put up with it.
Featured image via YouTube.
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