Campus Brainwashers Cannot Kill Patriotism
by David A. Yeagley
Originally published at FrontPageMagazine.com | May 4, 2001
I recently gave a talk on "The Warrior Spirit" at the University of Colorado, Boulder. There, I was thrilled to discover that patriotism is alive and well in the hearts of many young people.
Unfortunately, few of those young patriots were American Indians. Only two showed up for my talk.
The University of Colorado boasts a large Indian population. But the Indian faculty, to whom many of those students look for guidance, are mostly what I call "good Indians," or liberal Indians.
Teresa Halsey (Lakota), on the University Cultural Events Board, did not even list my lecture in her newsletter of Indian events. I was told that an awards banquet, involving Indians, had been scheduled for the same night. Naturally, leaders like Jeanine Valdez (Pueblo) – until recently Chair of the Cultural Events Board – and Lori Windle (Winnebago), AIM member, and their entourage would be absent.
When I arrived on campus, Thursday, April 26, my hosts Matt Dempsey and Jordan Andrews from the conservative Students For a Better America (SBA) told me they expected controversy. Some posters touting me as a "conservative Comanche" had been defaced. There was concern about potentially ugly behavior at the lecture.
In hindsight, what I found most remarkable was the racial and ethnic breakdown of the audience.
The conservative students, who all sat on one side of the auditorium, were a veritable Rainbow Coalition of "hyphenated" Americans ranging from Iranians to Hispanics. Among the blond-haired, blue-eyed left-wingers, I spotted only a couple of brunettes.
I spoke of America’s need to maintain its strength. I emphasized the warrior traits of self-control, self-reliance, independence, and devotion to the people, exemplified by the Founding Fathers and the pioneers.
It was laudable, I noted, to want to help the poor and downtrodden. But I warned, "You cannot be kind and generous, or help anybody, unless you have a position of strength. If you are weak, you yourself will become a victim."
Indian people had already lost America once, I told them. We did not want to see America given away a second time.
At this point, one young leftist virtually exploded with loud and unstoppable protest. America was eternally great and strong, he insisted. There was no threat of any kind, and no need to be vigilant. We could afford to keep giving away our power and wealth forever. It would never run out.
The young man worked himself into such a state that he was finally reprimanded by the SBA president, and then left the hall.
"What do you mean by ‘Giving it away’?" the leftwing students asked suspiciously.
I gave the example of Bill Clinton’s policy of selling – and in some cases, even giving away free – America’s defense secrets to China. Mercenary considerations aside, Clinton’s policy appears to have been based on the theory that we must bring America down in order to raise other countries up, leveling the playing field in the name of equality and stability.
"Well, what’s wrong with that?" the same students protested.
"History." I said. "It’s never happened, and there’s nothing that indicates it ever will in this world. In fact, quite the opposite is always true. One will always seek to dominate another."
A young female student opposed this. "I think we need to get past the talk of war."
And there we reached a dead end. In the minds of these leftwing students, strength was equated with war, and war with evil. How then could I speak to them of the "Warrior Spirit?"
Yet, after the lecture, when I continued the conversation with some of the leftwing students, I could tell that they were interested in what I was saying, though they were amazed to hear an Indian saying it.
Regarding the young man who had earlier left the hall in protest, one student commented, "I don’t think those were his ideas. It sounded like Professor _______ to me."
And perhaps that was the most telling remark of all.
At an SBA luncheon the next day, many students described to me how their teachers had tried to make them feel ashamed of being white, and ashamed of America. The brainwashing was relentless.
Yet they survived through common sense, and by listening to their own consciences. By their latter years at the University, they had recovered their pride and patriotism.
I believe there is a warrior spirit in this country that no amount of academic brainwashing can eradicate. I experienced it at the University of Colorado, Boulder. And it gave me hope.
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