HOWARD ZINN'S LEGACY: In His Own Words

Last week, Howard Zinn passed away. It was only a few weeks after the History Channel had premiered the film “The People Speak” honoring his controversial book “A People’s History of the United States.”

Prof. Zinn never hid the fact that he wrote “A People’s History” not as a reference book to collect dust on the shelf but as a field guide for the re-making of our society. In a 1988 interview with the University of Georgia, he summed up the legacy of his work better than anyone.

A quiet revolution is a good way of putting it. From the bottom up. Not a revolution in the classical sense of a seizure of power, but rather from people beginning to take power from within the institutions. In the workplace, the workers would take power to control the conditions of their lives. It would be a democratic socialism.

In the wake of his death, conservative commentators who had been critical of Zinn’s lifework were accused of “spitting on his grave” when responding to interview requests about Zinn’s legacy. At Big Hollywood we have less interest in trashing Howard Zinn, the man, as we have in shining a light on what his actual beliefs and agenda were, and still are.

Yes, his agenda lives on in the form of the Zinn Education Project (ZEP). And if there was any reluctance to expose the true agenda of Zinn and the Education Project that bears his name it was absolved with this bold statement on the ZEP website issued on the occasion of Zinn’s passing:

Howard Zinn, in honor of the marvelous victory of your life, we will act in defiance of all that is bad around us and attempt to spin the world towards justice.

In the war of ideas our nation is currently waging, unilateral disarmament for the sake of respect for the dead is not an option. Especially knowing that our opponents “will act in defiance of all that is bad around (them) and attempt to spin the world towards justice”.

The attempt at Zinn hagiography is in the works and when big celebrities come out to embrace him as an intellectual and humanitarian they must also take responsibility for the entirety of his legacy. A legacy that he, himself, in his own words laid out just eight days before his passing.

On January 19th, Blog Talk Radio presented an interview with Professor Zinn. This interview is a great chance for us to really hear Zinn describe, in his own words, his world view, what motivated him, his views on America, and to hear his advice to history teachers all across our country.

The first fifteen minutes were spent discussing the tragic events in Haiti and how, ultimately it was America’s historic neglect and imperial stance toward the tiny nation that led to its poverty and despair. It seems that no world event ever took place without Zinn jumping to the fore and blaming America for it.

Next, after some self-serving discussion about what set him apart from his peers when he was a teen (Zinn claimed that what made him different was that he read books) he then revealed his early influence in the realm of class and economic disparity.

Then we get to the crux of the real reason behind Zinn’s book and the film “The People Speak”: To promote the Zinn Education Project (ZEP). The host of the show, Bill Bigelow, explains why ZEP was created. “To offer teachers around the country alternatives to the official story that was being presented in text book…”

The naïve among you might ask yourselves “History is history, what do they mean by ‘alternatives to the official story’?” Well, my “sheeple,” Bigelow explains it all for you in this remarkable and revealing clip:

This all sounds like Zinn’s history is anti-American and biased, right? Zinn’s response to that charge might surprise you.

Here was his response to the Anti-American charge:

And here he responded to the idea that his version of history is biased:

Later, Zinn was asked what he thought the singular narrative of American history is. His answer, “the continual struggle of people for their rights”:

Later, a caller asked how the ZEP materials were making their way into the public school curriculum:

There will be more than enough time for our commentary on these words. For now, listen and learn what ideas are behind the trendy Hollywood movement to help educate your children.