Eric Foner Preaches Marxism on Campus

Posted on June 12, 2011October 17, 2020 in Campus Life with 33 Comments.

“Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, is one of this country’s most prominent historians.” Professor Eric Foner

The quote above is the first sentence on the homepage of Professor Eric Foner’s personal website. There is little doubt about who wrote this encomium, because footer of the homepage says “Copyright 2005 Eric Foner.”

Further down on the homepage the professor quotes another historian, who praises Foner in terms that would embarrass a more modest man. After praising Foner for his “voluminous scholarship,” Dr. Steven Hahn goes on to say that Foner “has had an enormous influence on how other historians, as well as a good cut of the general reading public, have come to think about American history.”

This statement is probably true, unfortunately. Dr Foner personifies everything that is wrong with academia in America, especially where history departments are concerned, and his influence is widely felt.

Eric Foner on the “Tragedy” of Socialism’s Failure

Posted on May 29, 2011October 15, 2017 in Campus Life with 3 Comments.

“To the Marxist paradigm that underlies this vision, I have no objection.” Eric Foner

College faculties tend to be very liberal – and very defensive about it. Any accusation of left wing bias makes the typical college professor fiercely indignant; and the most biased profs usually show the most indignation.

Campus Marxists have even been known to join together to form groups and publish papers to give an aura of academic legitimacy to their denunciations of their conservative critics. As far as their public image is concerned, university professors clearly want to be seen as moderate, mainstream Americans who can be trusted to give their students a well-rounded education.

When scholars write for other scholars, however, they are more candid.

Rating College History Textbooks, Part III

Posted on April 17, 2011October 14, 2017 in Campus Life with 3 Comments.

“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” Vladimir Lenin

This is the third of three columns in which I rate various history textbooks according to the degree of leftwing bias they demonstrate. In Part I, I discuss the text books America’s Promise, The American Journey, and Nation of Nations In Part II I review American Destiny and Making a Nation. Today’s column is on the two worst offenders, number two and number one on the propaganda scale: Eric Foner’s Give Me Liberty and Howard Zinn’s absurd A People’s History of the United States.

Rating College History Textbooks, Part II

Posted on April 3, 2011November 28, 2013 in Campus Life with No Comments.

“A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” Mark Twain

This the second of a three part series on the most widely used college freshman history textbooks. The first installment looked at the political bias in the textbooks America’s Promise, The American Journey, and Nation of Nations; the three least biased of the seven textbooks reviewed. Today’s installment examines books #4 and #3, American Destiny and Making a Nation. The next column will critique the two most shamelessly biased propaganda vehicles: Eric Foner’s Give Me Liberty and Howard Zinn’s ridiculous anti-American screed A People’s History of the United States.

Rating College History Textbooks, Part I: The Least Biased Books

Posted on March 20, 2011October 14, 2017 in Campus Life with 13 Comments.

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” Abraham Lincoln

The purpose of this website, as regular readers know, is to point out the liberal bias that permeates college history faculties and the textbooks they write. To that end I study and footnote seven of the most widely used freshman history textbooks. Every other week I post a new column about the biased way in which most of these textbooks cover some important topic in American History.

After doing this for over a year I’ve begun to notice patterns in the various books. While all of them reflect a left-leaning world view, some are certainly more biased, and less accurate, than others. In today’s column I will rate the three textbooks that show the least flagrant bias, starting with the one that comes closest to offering an even-handed representation of American history. Future columns will address the other four.