Posted November 25, 2019, by Mary Grabar: Announcing
Book Drive and Portland Talk, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The Oregon Association of Scholars today launched a book donation drive to counter the fabricated and distorted history of Marxist radical Howard Zinn that has been adopted as an assigned American history textbook in many middle, high school, and college classrooms in Oregon.
Members of the public are being invited to purchase a copy of Dr. Mary Grabar’s new book Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History That Turned a Generation against America (Regnery History, 2019) for donation to a public library or school in Oregon. They may also donate $25 to the OAS which will make the purchase and donation on their behalf.
“Educated Americans have always known of the mendacity of Zinn’s so-called People’s History of the United States,” said Dr. Bruce Gilley, Professor of Political Science at Portland State University and chapter president of the Oregon Association of Scholars. “Now, with Dr. Grabar’s new book, that mendacity is documented in chilling detail, showing the negligence and abuse of Oregon public school and college students forced to read it.”
Oregon is a leader in the use of Zinn’s fake history. A Young People’s History of the United States has been adopted as the official U.S. history textbook in Portland Public Schools middle schools and is widely used at the high school level in Oregon.
“Zinn’s book is an updated version of the communist disinformation spread by William Z. Foster, Chairman, Communist Party, USA, in his 1951 Outline History of the Americas,” said Grabar. “Like Foster, Zinn presents the United States as a regime based on illegitimate economic and political foundations. Zinn jazzes up this Marxist ‘history’ with 1960s lingo and dishonest emotional appeals, while grossly distorting American history with selective and misleading quotations, misrepresentations of authors’ words, plagiarism from dubious sources, and flat-out lies.”
Dr. Grabar shows how Zinn continuously distorts or simply makes up facts in his book and that his interpretations of American history reflect his enduring commitment to a revolutionary upheaval in American society like that experienced by Russia in 1917. His unremittingly negative account of American history has been critiqued mainly by scholars of the Left because of its pessimistic message about the possibilities of positive change.
“Those who force Zinn on our young people have never been held to account. Parents and the educated public have a duty to stand up to illiberal bullies in the education establishment and demand that truthful history be taught,” said Gilley.
Books are available for purchase for $25; checks can be mailed to Oregon Association of Scholars, c/o Dr. Bruce Gilley, Portland State University, Department of Political Science, Portland, OR 97207. Donations are tax-deductible. Books will be collected for distribution at Mary Grabar’s talk on January 22, 2020, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Browsing Lounge, Smith Memorial Union, Portland State University. After the introduction by Gilley, Grabar will discuss Howard Zinn and the corruption of education and open the discussion for questions from the audience. Books will be available for purchase and signing, and refreshments will be served.
Contact: Dr. Bruce Gilley, President, Oregon Association of Scholars,
