There has been a concerted attempt over the past several years by progressive teachers and school administrators to unilaterally make decisions about eradicating vestiges of our culture, because they alone have determined that these symbols or icons of the past may be offensive to others. This disconcerting practice by progressive vanguards has become more prevalent and absurd, the latest example manifested in Colin Kaepernick's suddenly taking offense at Nike's use of a Betsy Ross colonial flag emblem on one of its shoe models.
Recently, the San Francisco School Board voted to remove a mural of George Washington at one of its public schools because they divined it racist and degrading for its depiction of black Americans and American Indians.
The rationale offered for the mural's removal is instructive, as it reveals not only the pernicious nature of the identity politics underpinnings of modern-day progressivism, but also the inevitable censorship practices that logically flow from a philosophy that views America as an irredeemably racist country.
Here is the justification offered by vice president of the school board and third-grade teacher Mark Sanchez for ridding the school of the image of the nation's founding father, without consulting the student body, parents, or other members of the community. Sanchez claimed that students who must walk past the mural during the school day don't have a choice about seeing the harmful images. "Painting it over represents not only a symbolic fresh start, but a real fresh start," he said.
A question arises: how many students told Sanchez the image of George Washington that has adorned the school for 83 years was harmful? In a progressive world, the question answers itself: there is no need to demonstrate any actual harm sustained by any students. For identity-politics progressives, all that is needed for the whimsical exercise of their notion of social justice is the mere likelihood — however remote — that the historical image could cause harm, if not in the present, then in the indeterminate future or, perhaps, for students not yet born.
For Sanchez, "[t]he starting point has to be from those who feel they are harmed and how that is unacceptable, especially given the history of this country. When we don't listen, we don't learn." If only one student is offended by the image, for progressives, that is a sufficient reason to spend $600,000 of the taxpayers' money to remedy the injury by extirpating the historical image of George Washington.
Other instances of this type of monumental progressive silliness abound.
In 2016, Principal Scott Masini of Bruce Vento Elementary School, in Minnesota, whose student body is overwhelmingly nonwhite, decided on his own to eliminate all traditional Christian holidays, including Valentine's Day. His rationale for taking it upon himself to implement such draconian measures? Masini stated, "My personal feeling is, we need to find a way to honor and engage in holidays that are inclusive of our...
