In my first career, some 33 years ago, I was a school teacher in south -central Los Angeles, CA. Having had a progressive indoctrination in college, I was ripe for the increased indoctrination that the Teachers at my school tried to feed me, but somehow, the radical politics that I was asked to digest just didn't go down very well. I realized that communism wasn't going to make the lives of these inner-city children (mostly Latinos and African Americans, in my city) any better. I also learned that I had the wherewithal to inspire children to learn and to make learning personal for each student, in Spanish or in English.
One of my communist fellow-teachers mentioned to me that, among other things, he would make visits to his students homes to strengthen his bonds with students who were struggling. Although the lesson came from a self-avowed communist, it was not a concept that required me to adopt a revolutionary mindset - only a pragmatic mindset - so I added the practice to my toolbox and began meeting my students at the homes of their parents, in the heart of gangland. I became one of a very small number of white men who could travel freely in that part of L.A. after dark without becoming a victim of the gang wars.
I also developed other ways of connecting with my students and their grades ascended through the combined techniques that I developed.
Regrettably, the jealousy that I provoked due to my extraordinary success with my students made me quite the target for many of my less successful colleagues.
Over time I began to feel ostracized and started to lose enthusiasm for teaching. I ultimately made the choice to pursue another career and left my cherished students a good deal better off than when I first met them.
I could share hundreds of touching stories about these delightful 7th and 8th graders, and also a few heart-breaking stories, but the most important lesson that I can share is that socialism and teaching hate for the USA does not help our inner city youth. It simply pushes them fully towards the gang life which is already present in epidemic proportions. I guess that my years of teaching were really the start of my #walkaway experience, and prepared me to leave the Democratic Party.
In short, there is no need to train our youth to be socialists or communists and there is no need to teach our children to hate our country. The USA is a great country, and patriotism is important to maintaining our Democratic Republic.
