By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org
    
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Somewhere, Howard Zinn is smiling.
    
Zinn, the far-left historian whose work is a perennial favorite in teacher training colleges across the country, would surely approve of a principal’s recent decision to ban a performance of the song “God Bless the USA” from a kindergarten “moving up” ceremony.  
    
The New York Post reports that students in five classes at New York’s Edna Cohen School were scheduled to sing Lee Greenwood’s patriotic anthem at their June 20 commencement ceremony.
    
“The kids, dressed up for their big day, would wave tiny American flags — which, as the lyrics proclaim, ‘still stand for freedom,’” the Post reports.
    
But school Principal Greta Hawkins “marched in on a recent rehearsal and ordered a CD playing the anthem to be shut off,” reports the paper. Hawkins reasoned that the song might “offend other cultures,” though the song has proven popular when it was used in previous ceremonies.
    
Frankly, who cares if the song offends people from different cultures? This is New York, where we’re only supposed to be concerned about American culture. For those who disapprove of the United States, we can only wonder why they are here in the first place.
    
The Daily Caller reports that Hawkins is a Jehovah’s Witness who “does not participate in the Pledge of Allegiance for religious reasons.”
    
“According to insiders she has attempted to get that (pledge) ritual scrapped as well,” the Daily Caller reports. 
    
A spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Education sided with Hawkins, noting that the song’s lyrics were “not age-appropriate” for the students, the Post reports.  
    
“But Justin Bieber’s flirty song about teen romance, ‘Baby,’ was deemed a fine selection for this kindergarten ceremony. Hawkins has no problem with 5-year-olds singing lines such as, ‘Are we an item? Girl, quit playing,'” reports the Post. But she can’t tolerate hearing them sing about how they ”won’t forget the men who died” in defense of freedom.
    
While this particular story is being spun as an isolated incident caused by an odd-ball principal, we see it as part of a larger effort to remove patriotism from public education.
    
Leftists like Zinn and Bill Ayers – the unrepentant domestic terrorist – literally write the books that are used to train the next generation of American teachers. These books preach that America is a hopelessly racist and oppressive country that can only be fixed through Marxist-style “social justice” programs. They also encourage educators to share their ultra-liberal political philosophies with young students in the classroom. 
    
So nobody should be surprised that a public school has decided that “I’m proud to be an American/ where at least I know I’m free” is offensive and inappropriate for a school ceremony, but “Baby, baby, baby oooh/ I thought you’d always be mine” is not.
    
It’s just the natural result of the anti-American crowd’s effort to remake public education in its own image.
    
Like we said, somewhere, Howard Zinn is smiling.