The PC Trojan horse, Washington Times Forum, 8-1-04

The Washington Times

Forum: The PC Trojan horse

Published August 1, 2004

Do a "Google" search on political correctness and for the most part you will find a definition, such as that in the free encyclopedia Wikipedia:

"Political correctness is the alteration of language said to redress real or alleged unjust discrimination or to avoid offense. The term most often appears in the predicate adjective form politically correct, often abbreviated PC, and is usually used mockingly or disparagingly. One purpose behind 'politically correct' language is to prevent the exclusion or the offending of people based upon differences or handicaps. The idea behind using 'politically correct' terminology is to bring peoples' unconscious biases into awareness, allowing them to make a more informed choice about their language and making them aware of things different people might find offensive."

Although this is a pretty benign definition, dig a little deeper and you will find more to the PC agenda than meets the eye. There is what I believe should be an alarming connection between PC and communism. This is because PC doesn't understand our Constitution affords its citizens equality of opportunity by virtue of being human, not equality of opportunity by virtue of being under its protection. Inherent in the mutual objectives of PC and communism is an ever-growing movement to equalize our citizenry through education.

One byproduct in the quest for equalization has been what President Bush coins the "soft bigotry of low expectations." The onus is on the teachers to account for the environmental influences and the preferred learning styles each student brings into the classroom. Lesson plans should be adjusted for each and every student to the opportunity to succeed. It is no longer acceptable to assess students on their motivation or ability to adjust to the curriculum expectations, true indicators of how the graduates will be as contribute to society.

Education has been most influenced by PC through what is commonly referred to as a "multicultural curriculum." Its seemingly banal purpose is to acknowledge other cultural influences. However, because it is intertwined in the larger goal of political correctness, multiculturalism is designed to ensure true equality among all beliefs, institutions and races.
To achieve this, the curriculum dismisses what is great or ordinary about our nation's history and elevates to equal importance studying persons or events of marginal influence. It subjectively imposes moral judgments reflecting an antagonistic global perspective on our dominant cultural values and underhandedly demoralizes our citizens.

One of the many leaders of the anti-racist curriculum movement is Enid Lee, hired in many school districts to lead workshops seeking to eliminate "the national cultures and literatures of white Western peoples" and erase "their very identity and historical existence." She has had much success revising history so it doesn't portray America as "a historically white-majority country whose population and institutions emerged from [historically white] Britain and [historically white] Europe." To achieve this, Enid Lee uses methods that bully educators into believing they, their families and society are inherently prejudiced. After receiving "enlightenment," they are more inclined to denigrate our common civilization in the name of multiculturalism.

Graduates of multicultural indoctrination no longer recognize the dominant culture in our country. All groups are seen as having contributed equally to the development and makeup of our society. The Judeo-Christian foundations of our culture lose their deserved importance to bestow greater status on other, more "new age" spheres of influence.
The low expectations set for students assume they are unable to rise to the demands of a traditional curriculum. Educational institutions adjust the criteria for what denotes success and do not motivating students who could meet the challenges and the hard work of high-quality education. This is in direct contrast to No Child Left Behind, which seeks to provide an instructional environment of high expectations for all students.

Sadly, many of our graduates leave public schools without the intelligence to question ideas that stealthily undermine the dominant culture. Instead, the prevailing attitudes of those subjected to the multicultural, politically correct educational agendas promote both a bloodless communist revolution and creation of a comprehensive terrorist infrastructure; all the while paving the way for the proverbial "Trojan Horse" to conquer the sleeping giant.

NANCY SALVATO. Mrs. Salvato is a contractor with Prism Educational Consulting. She serves as Educational Liaison to Illinois state Sen. Ray Soden. She works nationally and locally furthering the cause of Civic Education. Her writing has been recognized by the U.S. secretary of education.