Those of us born and raised during the Cold War fully understand how dangerous, destructive and deadly communism and communist regimes have been. Communism is to blame for the deaths of over 100 million people and for the trampling of basic human rights for more than 1.5 billion people around the world.
The United States has long been an example of freedom and democracy to the rest of the world, but there is an increasing push from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to infiltrate our K-12 schools with communist propaganda. Similar to the Confucius Institutes that have popped up on our college campuses, the CCP has been working to set up Confucius Classrooms in our K-12 schools so they can influence our kids at an early age.
There have been alarming trends recently with younger generations of Americans much more receptive to the ideals of communism. The statistics show 28% of Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) view communism favorably. This is a huge difference from the just 6% of Boomers and 3% of the Silent Generation who view communism in a positive way. Even worse, nearly a fifth of Gen Z think communism is a fairer system than capitalism, and roughly the same percent prefer a dictatorship as the best political system.
Today, there are more than 500 K-12 schools in the United States that have Confucius Classrooms teaching CCP propaganda to our students and promoting the ideals of communism. Their goal is to erase the truth about the evils of communist regimes around the world and brainwash our children. It should be even more concerning that many of these Confucius Classrooms are in schools near American military bases.
The spread of pro-communist propaganda by the CCP cannot be allowed to continue. Thankfully, my colleague Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) introduced the Crucial Communism Teaching Act to provide middle and high school students with curriculum and educational materials so they can learn about the dangers of communism and totalitarianism. This is a great bill that will help us push back on CCP propaganda and properly educate our kids. The House passed this bill just a few days ago with massive bipartisan support, and I was proud to vote yes.
I’m reminded of the Ronald Reagan quote: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
Reagan’s words were as true then as they are today. Freedom and democracy must be protected, and we simply can’t sit idly by while the Chinese Communist Party attempts to manipulate and brainwash our children.
Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.
