Sen. Blackburn Praises Legislation Mandating Schools Teach Perils of Communism

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) in an interview with NTD's "Capitol Report" on May 19, 2022. Screenshot/NTD

At a time when polling reveals that more and more young adults, who never lived under communist regimes, are showing favorable opinions of socialism, leaders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are trying to stop this trend, by requiring that the history of communism be taught in schools.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) praised DeSantis for signing legislation that requires schools to teach the history of communism and ensure that Americans don’t forget how people have suffered under the various communist regimes.

Florida has many residents who fled Cuba’s communist regime and know “the suffering, the depravity, the poverty that people are forced into, the loss of freedom of speech, the loss of freedom of religion, how they pushed to change your culture, and it concerns them,” Blackburn said in a May 19 interview with NTD’s “Capitol Report.”

“I applaud Governor DeSantis for taking the steps and making certain that people don’t forget what people have suffered under communism,” she said.

On May 9 DeSantis signed House Bill 395 into law requiring K–12 students to learn about the brutal history of communism, and established Nov. 7 as “Victims of Communism Day” to honor the millions of people who have suffered under the various communist regimes.

“Through HB 395 and the funding announced today, we are guaranteeing that the history of those who fled communist regimes and their experiences are preserved and not forgotten by our students,” DeSantis said.

A 2021 poll conducted by Axios and Momentive, surveying the preference for capitalism versus socialism found that the popularity of socialism among people aged 18–34 has increased.

The survey found that in this group 49 percent viewed capitalism favorably versus 46 percent that viewed it negatively, as compared to two years ago when 58 percent viewed it positively versus 38 percent negatively.

Among 18- to 24-year-olds, even more had an unfavorable view of capitalism, with 54 percent having a negative view and only 42 percent having a positive view.

Blackburn believes young adults support such ideologies because they are not made aware of the perils of communism. She thinks this is one of the important jobs of the media, but mainstream media outlets have not put enough effort into informing the public about how communist regimes, including the Chinese Communist Party, commit human rights atrocities.

According to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, communism has taken the lives of over 100 million people around the globe.

One of the most notorious forced labor camps in China is Masanjia. The Epoch Times

Young people don’t understand, for example, how NBA merchandise is made using slave labor and contributes to genocide in China’s Xinjiang region, Blackburn said.

“If it is not covered with the media, then people don’t understand that,” said Blackburn. “So then that discernment not being placed on these activities by the media allows kids to not realize the importance of saying, ‘I’m not going to patronize this merchandise.’”

“Education is at the core of this, and this is something that Governor DeSantis is trying to address,” added Blackburn.d ensure that Americans don’t forget how people have suffered under communist regimes.