Gene D‘Agostino on Transformation of American Education: ’Turning the Culture Upside Down’

Current trends in the American education system, including the removal of popular cultural icons, the reframing of U.S. history, and the pursuit of so-called “equity,” rather than equal opportunity, are all part of a broader cultural Marxist campaign to transform the nation, according to Gene D'Agostino, a long-time conservative advocate for school choice.

“If I take away these funny cultural icons, like cartoon characters, and or Dr. Seuss, I can slowly change the whole culture, and that’s what this is about,” D'Agostino said in an interview with The Epoch times’ “Crossroads,” speaking of the Looney Tunes’ Pepe Le Pew and a number of Dr. Seuss titles that were cancelled after being deemed offensive and racially insensitive.

D'Agostino told host Joshua Philipp that “absolutes,” such as traditional concepts of good and evil and “a man is a man and a woman is a woman,” are being taken out of the education system in what he described as an effort to remake America based on a cultural Marxist vision.

“They’re trying to confuse people, they’re trying to scramble,” D'Agostino said. “If I’m a cultural Marxist and I want to do away with truths, I must do away with all the standards of truths in this society.”

Another aspect of this transformation is a shift in the way U.S. history is taught, according to D'Agostino. This revisionism has been championed by scholars like Howard Zinn, who butchered Christopher Columbus’ journal to make it fit his anti-colonialist narrative, and more recently, The New York Times’ 1619 Project that portrays the United States as an inherently racist nation built on slavery.

“That whole project is about, once again, turning the culture and history upside down,” D'Agostino said. “If I can debunk your truth, if I can debunk your icons, if I can debunk what you think and know of your culture, I have a blank slate and I can create anything I want to create.”

When asked about the change of focus from equal opportunity to equity, which has a focus on equality of outcome, D'Agostino said it is a “scam” that doesn’t actually create equal outcomes or results.

“The last thing they’re interested in is equal outcomes, because we’re seeing what’s happening with legislation right now in lots of states where grown boys are able to compete in girls sports, so they’re not going to get equal outcomes there,” he said. “I think it’s part of this scam.”

“The bottom line is that we each have unique talents and abilities, and my talents and abilities may not match up with your talents and abilities across the board. Let me grow and flourish and give me an opportunity to be the best person I can be, and I'll give you the best opportunity to be the best person you can be,” he continued. “But for us to determine that it’s all about equal outcomes is just unfair to every individual in the country.”