To the students and faculty of our high school:
I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than
to teach young people. I would like to apprise you of some important changes
coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most
of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against
you, against your teachers and against our country.
First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less
if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white...
I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or
European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships.
The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your
individual identity -- your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the
only national identity this school will care about is American.
This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to
make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or religious
identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all
ethnicity, race and non-American nationality-based celebrations. They undermine
the motto of America, one of its three central values -- e pluribus Unum, "from
many, one."
And this school will be guided by America's values. This includes all
after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide Students based on any
identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation or
whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.
Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or
other physically defined ties. Those clubs just Cultivate narcissism -- an
unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the purpose of education is to
get you to think beyond yourself.
So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art,
music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the
only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are those
based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of
yourself really interests you.
Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My only
interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing
English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America 's
citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school. It is one of
the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one
country. And if you leave this school without excellent English language skills,
I would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully
compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here
-- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English --but if you want
classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your
school.
Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this school
will reflect learning's elevated status. This means, Among other things, that
you and your teachers will dress accordingly.
Many people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than
for church or school.These people have their priorities backward.
Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.
Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school's property
-- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can't speak
without using the f-word, you can't speak. By obscene language I mean the words
banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus epithets such as "Nigger,"
even when used by one black student to address another black, or "bitch," even
when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you
leave this school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively
distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.
Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be
attained in only one way -- the way people attained it until decided otherwise a
generation ago -- by earning it. One immediate consequence is that there will be
one valedictorian, not eight.
Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from
politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to Scaring you about
smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global
warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to
regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue. There will be no
more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white,
or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any
one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or herself
inordinately lucky -- to be alive and to be an American.
Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our
country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out
to you.
A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give....
By Dennis Prager.
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