PHOENIX 鈥 A first-term 蜜柚直播 lawmaker wants to require that students have to study what he says is the 鈥渂rutality鈥 of communism before they can graduate.
Rep. Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley, said that many Americans do not understand 鈥 and seem not to fear 鈥 the idea.
鈥淲e always think that, 鈥榃ell, the United States maybe can do communism better than most people,鈥欌 he told Capitol Media Services. That, Nguyen contends, is not true.
鈥淚 lived it,鈥 he said.
鈥淚 was shot at as a child,鈥 Nguyen continued. 鈥淲hen you think about it, who would ever shoot a child on purpose?鈥
And the result is that communists 鈥 and Communists 鈥 are not condemned.
Consider, he said, that the Communist Party USA even felt comfortable putting out a statement after Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty in the Wisconsin shootings, calling the verdict 鈥渞acist and unjust.鈥
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鈥淲hen you see that kind of language reaching into our society, it makes me more motivated to introduce legislation to make sure that we hear the truth of communism playing around quite a bit,鈥 Nguyen said.
But the measure is likely to face opposition from Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale.
It鈥檚 not a question of his feelings about communism or, for that matter, any economic or political system. What it is, Boyer said, is whether state lawmakers should be dabbling in curriculum.
鈥淲e have an entity that is responsible for that, which is the state Board of Education,鈥 he said. In fact, Boyer said the board adopted new social study standards just four years ago.
鈥淭hey like for them to be in place for 10 years or so because, as you can imagine, it鈥檚 a very lengthy process鈥 to amend them, said Boyer who chairs the Senate Education Committee.
There is statutory precedent of sorts for warning 蜜柚直播ns about communism, with statutes on the books condemning the Communist Party of the U.S. and barring the party from state recognition.
What Nguyen proposes is not as far-reaching.
He wants to mandate that schools have a 鈥渃omparative discussion of political ideologies 鈥 that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy that are essential to the founding principles of the United States.鈥
Strictly speaking, nothing in HB 2008 would require that students be taught 鈥 or told 鈥 that communism or totalitarianism is inherently evil. But Nguyen said that鈥檚 what he believes. And the intent of his measure is clear.
It first would require the state board of education to work with some outside groups to help 鈥減repare students to be civically responsible adults.鈥 And that specifically includes the expectations of an 鈥渦pright and desirable citizenry鈥 that recognizes and accepts responsibility 鈥渇or preserving and defending the blessings of liberty.鈥
And it requires the creation of a list of oral history resources of first-person accounts 鈥渙f victims of other nations鈥 governing philosophies.鈥
Nguyen said it鈥檚 one thing to have academic discussions of communism or Marxism as an economic concept.
鈥淲e can talk about everyone being equal; there鈥檚 no social class whatsoever,鈥 he said. But he said that ignores 鈥渢he brutality of 100 million people being killed over 100 years.鈥
鈥淚鈥檇 like to share that,鈥 Nguyen said. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to share the truth of what communism is all about.鈥
He does not dispute that there are other repressive non-communist regimes throughout the world, some with prior and even bloody histories. But Nguyen said that鈥檚 not his focus.
鈥淚 did it because I experienced it,鈥 he said. And Nguyen said he wants to dispel any ideas that there is an acceptable or humane form of communism despite what appears to be a relatively stable situation in some places.
鈥淚f you just open your mouth today in Cuba and speak against the government, you just may be disappearing at midnight,鈥 Nguyen said.
鈥淥ne of the reasons why you don鈥檛 see people killed any more is because people don鈥檛 dare speak against the government,鈥 Nguyen said.
Nguyen said he is the perfect person to push such a plan.
鈥淚f you look at the legislature, I鈥檓 the only guy that actually survived a brutal Vietnam war,鈥 he said, even being shot at while still a child.
This is not the first time lawmakers have attempted to insert warnings about communism into the public school curriculum. House Republicans attached similar language to a K-12 budget bill earlier this year.
鈥淭he threat of communism, and honestly, even here within our own borders, the threat of Marxism is on our front porch,鈥 said Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, saying there are people 鈥渨ithin school systems鈥 who are socialists.
鈥淭o teach our children about the evils of communism and totalitarianism is right,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t is our duty and our responsibility to do that.鈥
That provoked a reaction from some House Democrats.
鈥淵ou know what鈥檚 a bigger threat?鈥 asked Rep. Daniel Hernandez, D-蜜柚直播. 鈥淲hite nationalism.鈥
Hernandez also placed the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol into the same category.
鈥淪o, yes, let鈥檚 talk about communism,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut let鈥檚 talk about making sure we are not letting people get away with the kinds of things that happened on Jan. 6 and teaching our kids it鈥檚 OK to try to overthrow a democratically elected government.鈥
Nguyen refused to let that pass.
鈥淲hite nationalism didn鈥檛 drown 250,000 Vietnamese in the South China Sea,鈥 he told colleagues at the time. 鈥淭he communists did.鈥
He also cited the execution of 86,000 Vietnamese at the fall of Saigon. And Nguyen said it was communism that caused him to be in the United States.
鈥淪o don鈥檛 take it lightly, don鈥檛 mock me, don鈥檛 mock what I go through in life,鈥 Nguyen said, adding he lost most of his family members because of communism. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 stand up to teach communism to our children, we鈥檒l lose this country.鈥