- Schools in the US should remind ethnically diverse classes
that the country was founded upon "Western ideals", a congressman
has said.
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- Tom Tancredo, who represents Colorado, claimed education
was under threat from "radical multiculturalism".
-
- The Republican said that having between five and 10 million
people in the US claiming dual citizenship had made teaching "problematic".
-
- Pro-immigration groups said he was driving a "wedge"
between communities.
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- 'Unique'
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- Mr Tancredo has introduced a non-binding resolution in
Congress, calling on schools to stress "the importance of Western
civilization," whose origins, he added, were European and Judeo-Christian.
-
- Of the situation regarding dual citizenship, he said:
"This is problematic, because we are also teaching our children in
schools throughout the country that there is nothing unique about Western
civilization - or, if there is something unique, it's uniquely bad."
-
- Mr Tancredo cited examples of schools omitting the story
of the country's 17th-century settlers from history lesson guidelines.
-
- The country's founders were also depicted negatively
in textbooks and classes.
-
- Mr Tancredo said: "We have pushed this multiculturalist
philosophy to the point of absurdity."
-
- However, Gabriela Lemus, of the League of United Latin
American Citizens, said: "It's a divide-and-conquer attitude, and
it's just another way to create wedges within communities.
-
- "It devalues US history, because US history is very
rich and is very multicultural, whether he likes it or not."
-
- Daniel Kaufman, a National Education Association spokesman,
added: "These types of controversies just detract from the real issues
and the real needs and challenges that we have."
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- Mr Tancredo's resolution is backed by 13 US representatives.
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- © BBC MMIV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3535679.stm
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