Critical Literacy in Children's Literature: Bias and Diversity
This is a four page paper about children's literature. Montano urges a rigorous critical examination of children's literature for racism, linguicism, sexism, and bias. The importance of critical examination is to empower teachers, students, and parents to recognize the root causes of bias, prejudice, and stereotype. The function is not simply to point out obvious instances of racism, linguicism, sexism, and other biases. Moreover, it is not enough to include literature written from multicultural perspectives in classroom syllabi.
Marxism vs. National Socialism: Lenin, Hitler, Mao Compared
Lenin's version of socialism, which became the model for the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and other underdeveloped nations that underwent revolutions in the 20th Century, was highly centralized, hierarchical and authoritarian. It emphasized rapid industrialization and economic development under the direction of the Communist Party, although in all these semi-feudal societies this was carried out without the benefits of any type of liberal or democratic traditions. Contrary to the original hopes of Karl Marx and even Lenin, no socialist revolution occurred in Germany, France or any Western nation, all of which remained dominated by governments hostile to the Soviet Union and Communism in general. Although Hitler led a National Socialist ‘revolution' in Germany in 1933, this ideology was hostile to Marxism, Communism, democratic socialism and liberalism, and was in fact heavily based on racist, anti-Semitic and Social Darwinist ideas.