One in Four Kids Taught From Bogus Marxist History Book
Book has ‘a lot of motivation assigned to historical figures that we just don’t have any evidence for,’ researcher says
The textbook, “A People’s History of the United States,” used in as many as one and four high school history classrooms, misinforms students and borrows from Karl Marx to present American history as a “conflict between capital and labor,” according to a new report.
The report by the Goldwater Institute compares “A People’s History” by the late Howard Zinn to Hillsdale College Professor Wilfred McClay’s alternative and less used textbook “Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story.” The institute is a conservative think tank in Arizona, focused on free market policy and Americans’ constitutional freedoms.
“The reason we wrote and released this report is encapsulated by the idea that fewer and fewer Americans are proud to be American,” author Tyler Bonin told The College Fix in a recent interview.
He cited a 2024 Gallup poll that found the number of Americans who are “extremely/very proud to be an American” has fallen from 90 percent to 67 percent since 2004.
“Students need to be given a well-rounded narrative but also need to find hope in the fact that we have much to strive for but we are founded on principles of liberty and flourishing,” Bonin said. He is a former history teacher and civics education specialist at Goldwater.
Zinn, a former professor and self-proclaimed “democratic socialist,” published “A People’s History” in 1980. Since then, it has become one of the most widely used…