While the country celebrates Black History Month, millions of children, including many disadvantaged Black and Hispanic students, cannot learn any kind of history at all because of in-school shutdowns caused by the stubbornness and selfishness of teachers unions.
If Donald Trump were still president, you can bet your boots that he would not be sitting by in silence while millions of children are being deprived of education by teachers unions in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and other cities throughout the country.
He would be criticizing them for telling teachers not to work, and standing up for parents who are paying their salaries.
Not so with President Joseph Biden.
In his pre-Superbowl interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, Biden said that "it’s time for schools to open safely" and that 20 million kids unable to attend schools this year is a "national emergency."
However, he refused to tell educators to go back into work, even though his director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) stated a few days earlier that teachers did not need to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in order for schools to safely reopen.
Unfortunately, when Biden says that he wants schools to open "safely," he means under whatever terms and conditions the unions demand.
He is obviously not discussing this issue with his Democratic mayors.
In San Francisco, the home of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., public schools have been closed to in-person education for almost a year.
The city's Mayor London Breed has cited data showing that Black, Latino, Asian, and low-income students "have lost significant academic ground…compared with white and wealthier students."
Last week, the city filed a lawsuit against the school district and board of education over school closures.
A tentative agreement has been reached between the city and the unions to reopen public schools.
In Chicago, where the city has spent $100 million preparing schools for reopening, the impasse between the city and the teachers union may lead to the second teachers strike in the past 15 months if the union membership turns down a recently proposed agreement.
Why has there been silence on this "national emergency" by the civil rights leadership community?
To the best of my knowledge, the usual suspects have been nowhere to be seen or heard on the issue.
Where are Chicago's own Rev. Jesse Jackson, New York's Rev. Al Sharpton, the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), or their partners on the progressive left who are so quick to call those who disagree with their radical agenda racists?
And, let’s not forget Chicago’s favorite couple: former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
They are nowhere to be seen or heard.
How ironic.
Biden, Democratic leaders, and their radical left-wing allies love to call Republicans, conservatives, and Trump supporters white supremacists and accuse the country of systemic racism.
Yet they don't realize, or don't care, that the damage being done to millions of Black and Hispanic children locked out of schools most likely brings joy to the hearts of actual white supremacists and racists.
Why are Biden and his Democratic colleagues letting left-wing mayors and innocent children twist slowly in the wind and be the victims of political extortion by unions seeking more COVID-19 funds?
The answer is simple: They are in the total grasp of the teachers unions that own the Democratic Party.
As I have written in this space, union demands take priority over the needs of vulnerable low-income school children.
It is a shameful betrayal of the children of the Democratic Party’s most loyal constituency — especially during Black History Month.
Clarence V. McKee is president of McKee Communications, Inc., a government, political, and media relations and training consulting firm in Florida. He served on the U.S. Senate staff, held several positions in the Reagan administration and Reagan presidential campaign, and was an adviser to the Angola Freedom Fighters ("UNITA"). He is a former co-owner of WTVT-TV in Tampa and a former chairman of the Florida Association of Broadcasters. His articles have been published in several publications including The Washington Times, Human Events Online, the Florida Courier and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. His media appearances include Newsmax TV and FOX News Radio. He is the author of "How Obama Failed Black America and How Trump Is Helping It." Read Clarence V. McKee’s Reports — More Here.
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