Alinsky – Recommended Reading by the National Education Association

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The other day, this page on the NEA website was brought to my attention by @jefe_viejo on twitter.  At first, I thought it might be some sort of dummy site or something until I backtracked through the NEA site and found that the links did indeed lead to that page.It is troubling that the NEA believes that the writings of Saul Alinsky are not only acceptable, but are in fact worthy of their recommendation. I won’t rehash here why Alinsky is so inappropriate for teachers and students alike, except to point out a few obvious issues. Otherwise, reading my blog should make it very clear that Alinsky’s teachings are not appropriate in an educational setting.Let me just give you a few quotes from the NEA webpage on Alinsky, and you can make up your own mind if this is the type of material teachers should be studying and imparting to your children.

First, from the site,

“Conservative interests know that while Liberals are most adept at breaking their own necks with their tongues, Radicals are most adept at breaking the necks of Conservatives.”

And again,

“He will fight conservatives whether they are business or labor leaders.”

At the very least, this quote should concern you regardless of your political views, because it pushes a specific political agenda. This is wholly inappropriate for teacher and student alike. All viewpoints should be given consideration in any free exchange of ideas. We certainly should not be encouraging anyone to be a Liberal radical and break the necks of Conservatives, although this does echo some of the posturing currently coming out of this White House.

The page also says,

“The Radical may resort to the sword but when he does he is not filled with hatred against those individuals whom he attacks. He hates these individuals not as persons but as symbols representing ideas or interests, which he believes to be inimical to the welfare of the people.”

Is inspiring violence in the name of one’s political views really, what teacher and/or student should be studying?

And again,

“That is the reason why Radicals, although frequently embarking upon revolutions, have rarely resorted to personal terrorism.”

The word “rarely” should frighten any sensible person.

The page ends with,

“Agitate + Aggravate + Educate + Organize”

Again, I have to ask you is this what you want either your child or your child’s teacher reading? Is it appropriate or is it in fact seditious? You make the call. I know where I stand.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

I wish to thank @airbrat77 and @jefe_viejo for their tireless work in getting this issue noticed, along  with many, many others on twitter who helped to get the message out.

I’d also like to thank all of those in the press who picked up on the story. Here are some links to what others have said:WorldNetDaily offered this aricle entitled, “NEA raves to teachers about Alinsky ‘guidebook’

Michelle Malkin offered this entry entitled, “What’s on your teacher’s reading list?”

FoxNation offered this entry, “Alinsky on NEA’s recommended reading list”.

A google search for “nea Alinsky” will turn up quite a few more.