sign in sign up
<<
Home , Barbara Ehrenreich, Bayard Rustin, Bernie Sanders, Frank Zeidler, Michael Harrington, New York Call

Social Education 80(1), pp 31–35 ©2016 National Council for the Social Studies in the United States: Hidden in Plain Sight Robert Shaffer

Vermont Senator has attracted some of the largest crowds of the 2016 become, as Sanders notes, broadly presidential campaign thus far: 11,000 in Phoenix, 25,000 in , and accepted—or at least part of mainstream 28,000 in Portland, Oregon. Sanders, a democratic socialist who for three decades debate. has won office as an Independent, is now running in the Democratic Party primaries. While he does not advocate the original goal of socialism—that “a nation’s resources The Invisibility of Socialism in U.S. and major industries should be owned and operated by the government on behalf of Textbooks all , not by individuals and private companies for their own profit,” in the As we seek to increase our students’ words of one U.S. history textbook1 —Sanders has put “socialism” back in American sophistication as citizens, discussing political discourse. Sanders’s ideas alongside those of other candidates, it is a matter of concern that Sanders assails the “billionaires” and tion—Social Security, banking regula- in the textbook accounts of U.S. history, the “1%,” charging that income inequal- tions, and collective bargaining provi- Socialists have often been hidden in ity has increased as median wages stag- sions, among others—was denounced plain sight. nate, and that the super-rich avoid their as “socialist” at first but has “become Most U.S. history textbooks note the fair share of taxes as shredded cam- the fabric of our nation and the founda- towering figure of American socialism, paign finance laws provide them undue tion of the middle class.” He added that Eugene V. Debs, who usually appears political influence. Only a “political the same is true for some of President three times: as the leader of the American revolution,” Sanders states—by which Lyndon Johnson’s pro- Railway Union jailed for leading the he means an insurgent movement of vot- grams, such as and Medicaid. 1894 Pullman strike; as the Socialist ers and activists, not a violent storming Indeed, Sanders squarely positions Party (SP) presidential candidate in of the barricades—can make the U.S. himself along one pole of the socialist the four-way 1912 race who received work for the majority of its citizens. His tradition, striving to improve people’s 6% of the vote; and as one of hundreds vision of begins lives without overthrowing capitalism jailed for opposing U.S. involvement in with the idea that “real freedom must entirely: “I don’t believe government World War I.4 Gary Nash graphically include economic security,” as he put it should own the , emphasizes Debs’s powerful oratory and at in November but I do believe that the middle class public appeal,5 while Jesus Garcia and 2015, drawing on President Franklin and the working families who produce his co-authors use Debs’s progression Roosevelt’s call in 1944 for a “second the wealth of deserve a fair from union leader to Socialist to intro- Bill of Rights.” Achieving that secu- deal.”3 duce the popular outrage over massive rity, Sanders believes, requires univer- Sanders’s electoral odds are long, which inspired sal health care coverage (he favors the but his campaign reminds us as educa- the .6 While it is true, as “Medicare for all” model), tuition-free tors that there is a socialist tradition Donald Ritchie observes,7 that some access to public universities, public in American politics and society. Our Progressives feared the more radical sector jobs to rebuild “our crumbling students should know that Sanders Socialists—and President Wilson’s war- ,” initiatives to help achieve and his ideas did not appear from time jailing of Socialist leaders consti- full employment, a greatly increased nowhere; people with such views have tuted a devastating blow to the SP—it is , and a sharply graduated often played important roles in reform equally true to say that Debsian social- income tax.2 movements. While sometimes labeled ism influenced . Upton Drawing still further on FDR’s experi- by opponents as un-American, unrealis- Sinclair’s account of conditions in the ence, Sanders asserted at Georgetown tic, or simply destructive, many (though Chicago packinghouses spurred passage that much social legisla- by no means all) socialist goals have of the 1906 Meat Inspection Act, while

January/February 2016 31 Eugene V. Debs, member of the of the USA and presidential candidate, speaks at a political meeting in on Aug. 17, 1912. (AP Photo)

Margaret Sanger, who was a Socialist, leader A. Philip Randolph, who first ran and of the United courageously disseminated information for public office as a Socialist in 1920, Autoworkers retained their Socialist ties about contraception to working-class organized the on Washington even as the AFL-CIO as a whole became women. ’s Socialist elected Movement in 1941, which forced FDR less critical of capitalism in the 1950s officials pioneered the provision of pub- to issue an executive order banning racial and 1960s. lic services and zoning regulation now discrimination in war industries. The Socialist Party-affiliated League standard in many cities. While the Socialists as an organized for Industrial helped to Socialist influence continued during political party declined further after launch Students for a Democratic the and World War 1940, several leaders still made their Society (SDS) in 1960. SDS soon swung II. E.Y. (Yip) Harburg, a Socialist, who mark. , their news- in an even more radical direction, espe- also wrote the songs of “The Wizard paper editor, wrote cially in its opposition to American for- of Oz,” penned the stirring song now in 1962, and that exposé of continued eign policy, and spread socialist ideas to generally considered the anthem of the poverty is generally credited as a spur a wide range of 1960s radicals. Sanders Great Depression, “Brother, Can You for Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. himself was a member of the SP youth Spare a Dime?”8 Six-time Socialist can- Harrington, in turn, best articulated the group at the in didate for president , new Socialist strategy of working elec- the early 1960s. After a factional split who received almost a million votes in torally within the Democratic Party, of in 1972, the most visible SP offshoot 1932 and worked to push FDR to the being “on the left wing of the possible,” became the Democratic Socialists of left, was eulogized as America’s “social as he put it. Meanwhile, Randolph and America (DSA) in 1982. Harrington, its conscience” upon his death.9 The Social fellow Socialist were the most prominent member, died in 1989, Gospel tradition, which arose in the late main organizers of the now-celebrated but DSA later counted among its lead- 1800s, became more rooted in main-line March on Washington in August 1963. ers United Farmworkers co-founder Protestantism during the interwar period; , the last of the Milwaukee Dolores Huerta, Rep. Ron Dellums of the leading main-line non-denomina- Socialist mayors, worked tirelessly in the California, author , tional magazine, The Christian Century, 1950s to legalize public sector collec- and philosopher and theologian Cornel editorialized just before the 1932 elec- tive bargaining—which had been omitted West. tion that “the existing capitalistic sys- from 1935’s National Labor Relations And yet, aside from Debs and other tem is basically unchristian and unjust,” Act—and became the first opponents of World War I, Socialists are and that the Socialist program was “far state to institutionalize the practice, in all but invisible in most secondary-level more closely in accord with the ide- 1959. Union leaders such as Jerry Wurf U.S. history textbooks, and, I imagine, als of Christianity than … either of the of the American Federation of State, from the lessons most teachers prepare. major parties.”10 African American labor County, and Municipal Employees Including this dissenting and activist

Social Education 32 REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk

Supporters cheer for U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders during a campaign rally at Cleveland State University in , November 16, 2015.

perspective in the curriculum is impor- the group’s origins and the mix of sup- arrested for distributing anti- litera- tant, and not that difficult. All secondary port and opposition it has received over ture in the case that led to Justice Oliver textbooks, for example, describe Sinclair’s the years—including the Socialist connec- Wendell Holmes’s 1919 “clear and pres- and its impact as key examples tion. Sanger joined the SP after the 1911 ent danger” doctrine. With the Palmer of the muckraking and government regula- Triangle factory fire, and the following Raids and other attacks on labor activ- tion of business typical of Progressivism. year the Socialist New York Call pub- ists and leftists after the war, the NCLB While most textbooks explain Sinclair’s lished her serialized pamphlet, “What became the permanent ACLU.16 Thus, main goal as arousing sympathy for Every Girl Should Know,” on sex and an organization dedicated to defend- immigrant workers who toiled in unsafe sexually-transmitted diseases. When the ing free speech and other rights of all stockyards and packinghouses, only one Post Office censored one installment, the Americans began as an offshoot of the textbook among those I surveyed identi- left the page blank except for Socialist movement—an association that fies Sinclair as a Socialist.11 Another adds these words: “What Every Girl Should some ACLU critics are happy to note that the “radical” Appeal to Reason com- Know—NOTHING: By Order of the (and exaggerate) on the Internet. missioned Sinclair to undertake his study; Post Office Department.”15 This incident When introducing the Great why not mention specifically that this was demonstrates that Socialists a century ago Depression, innumerable teachers play a Socialist newspaper with 760,000 sub- welcomed new roles for women—they “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”—eas- scribers at its height in 1913?12 had years earlier endorsed women’s ily available on YouTube. Nash states Fewer textbooks than one would expect suffrage—and that they pressed against that this song, which dominated radio discuss the efforts of Sanger—a founder restrictions on the press. air-waves in 1931 and 1932 and high- of —to disseminate Most textbooks and teachers men- lighted labor’s role in building America, birth control information, and none tion the American Civil Union “captured the prevailing mood of des- that do identify her as a Socialist. Nash for its defense of biology teacher John peration and shock.”17 Harburg’s song merely explains that Sanger, a nurse, was Scopes in the 1925 “monkey” trial. did not usher in socialism, but, like arrested in 1914 for violating laws against Providing background on the organi- Sinclair’s The Jungle, it demonstrates “obscenity,” and that even after charges zation—historically as controversial as socialist influence on American society. were dropped she “faced constant opposi- Planned Parenthood—can help students A more analytical class project would tion.”13 (Garcia and his co-authors avoid link important issues related to World compare the Democratic and Socialist controversy—and context—by labeling War I and its aftermath. The National platforms of 1932 with Franklin Sanger only “a reformer who focused on Bureau, founded by Roosevelt’s New Deal policies.18 women’s health issues.”14) In view of the Socialist Crystal Eastman and pacifist Students will quickly agree with one recent attacks on Planned Parenthood, it Roger Baldwin, unsuccessfully defended recent historian that the Socialists more seems incumbent on teachers to discuss Socialist Charles Schenck, who was nearly anticipated the New Deal than

January/February 2016 33 the Democrats.19 The 1932 Democratic are now standard in textbooks—but all ruption and opportunity) made the U.S. convention called for decreased federal ignore the Socialism of these African different from his native Germany, where spending and a balanced budget, and American leaders.23 That affiliation not the would for “old age insurance” under state laws. only shows continuity between Debs soon become the largest political party. Meanwhile, Socialists demanded $5 and the 1960s—remember, Randolph Sombart by no means ignored American billion for public works (about what first campaigned for office as a Socialist industrial conflict, and pointed out that the Works Administration in 1920, when Debs ran for president the path to economic development here would spend), a national system of old from his jail cell—but should affect was “strewn with corpses” and that the age pensions (achieved through Social the way students understand the 1963 repression of strikes routinely degener- Security), the abolition of child labor March. According to most textbooks, the ated into “civil war.”27 and the establishment of a minimum March focused on support for the civil Some scholars—and socialists—have wage (largely accomplished through rights bill which President Kennedy had argued that Sombart overstated the the Fair Labor and Standards Act), and endorsed that summer, and its highlight prosperity of the American worker, “laws enforcing the rights of workers to was Martin Luther Jr.’s “I Have a overlooked the impact of race in shap- organize into unions” (largely embodied Dream” speech.24 In fact, the demon- ing American society, and exagger- in the National Labor Relations Act). stration, officially called the “March ated the contrast between Socialist To be sure, Roosevelt did not follow on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” movements in the U.S. and Europe.28 Socialist calls for racial equality, bank demanded not only civil rights, but a Moreover, Sombart ended his book , or public ownership of comprehensive federal jobs program—as optimistically: “in the next generation power resources, although the Tennessee can be seen in the graphics reprinted in Socialism in America will very probably Valley Authority faintly echoed this last some textbooks whose narrative ignores experience the greatest possible expan- point. Ironically, Democrats called for this socialistic demand.25 Similarly, high- sion of its appeal.”29 In any case, his separating from lighting Harrington’s Socialism, which analysis could not take into account the commercial banking, a reform realized in no textbooks do, reaches back to Upton impact that World War I would have on the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act but repealed Sinclair (with a socialist tract inspir- Socialism worldwide, or the fateful rup- in 1999—and which the socialist Sanders ing reform), and to Sanders ture between Communists and Socialists wishes to restore. (now running as both socialist and caused by the Bolshevik Revolution. To their credit, textbook authors Democrat).26 The relative lack of attention to Appleby, Brinkley, and McPherson Socialist activism in U.S. history text- state that Socialists and Communists U.S. Socialism in Historical books owes something to Sombart’s “proposed sweeping changes” to end the Perspective analysis; periods of economic distress Depression. However, these esteemed Of course, this discussion of the Socialist and have traditionally been historians give no specific examples, so movement’s impact on American life regarded by most Americans—includ- students cannot evaluate the worthiness goes against what most Americans ing textbook authors—as aberrations of the alternatives or their influence.20 thought they knew. Indeed, over 100 from the more usual prosperity for most Nash accurately notes that some New years ago, in 1906, German socialist and progress for even more. To be sure, Deal programs, such as the Agricultural Werner Sombart seemed to dismiss the Sombart and the textbooks are correct Adjustment Act (AAA), did not help the movement here with his book, Why that no U.S. Socialist party has achieved poorest and most vulnerable, and he Is There No Socialism in the United or credibly contended for government points out that the interracial Southern States? Best remembered for the formu- power. Moreover, the conflicts that Tenant Farmers Union (STFU) fought lation that socialism foundered upon the have received the most attention in text- back against the AAA’s injustices.21 “roast beef and apple pie” enjoyed by books since the 1960s—formative years, Teachers could add that Socialist relatively prosperous American laborers, presumably, for many recent textbook Norman Thomas assailed the AAA, Sombart in fact credited a combination authors—have centered on race, ethnic- asserting—with some hyperbole—that of factors for this outcome. A careful ity, and gender rather than class. Indeed, the program’s crop limitation program student (albeit with a few blind spots) many secondary-level textbooks have sought to achieve “prosperity through of economic statistics and comparative outside consultants for multicultural and starvation.” Thomas was also among politics, he argued that the abundance gender issues, but there are no analogous the most important supporters of the of land for capitalist expansion and as a positions for issues of labor and class.30 embattled STFU.22 safety valve for upwardly mobile work- The dearth of attention to socialism after Discussion of Randolph’s 1941 ers, the tradition of universal manhood 1912 is mirrored in most textbooks by March on Washington Movement and suffrage and of social equality, and the inattention to labor unions after 1945, Randolph and Rustin’s 1963 March two-party system (replete with both cor- including the wholesale omission of

Social Education 34 31 identification of Sinclair as a socialist comes 10 the rise of public employee unionism. ted socialists but were willing to expand pages earlier than the explanation of his book and Finally, some state education depart- government’s role in regulating the econ- its influence. ments from the 1950s and textbook omy or guaranteeing civil rights. Some of 12. Nash, American Odyssey, 244–45; Virgil Dean, “Appeal to Reason,” Encyclopedia of the Great adoption boards in recent years have these same factors are surely behind the Plains, at http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/ insisted that schools teach the virtues surprising level of support for Sanders encyclopedia/doc/egp.pd.007. of “free enterprise,” so perhaps some in the run-up to the primary season. The 13. Nash, American Odyssey, 257; see also National Standards for United States History (Los Angeles: textbook publishers have been reluc- growing income inequality of the past National Center for History in the Schools, [1994]), tant to include much about American 15 years has led to comparisons with 169–70. socialism.32 the Gilded Age; the of 14. Garcia, Creating America, 312. 15. Ellen Chesler, Woman of Valor: The splits and developments within 2007–08 by its very name alludes to and the Birth Control Movement in America (New the broader Socialist movement also the Great Depression and the decline of York: Simon & Schuster, 1992), esp. 57–66; Jill Lepore, “Birthright: What’s Next for Planned contribute to the difficulties of text- manufacturing jobs; and the surge in sup- Parenthood,” New Yorker (Nov. 14, 2011). book authors. These include the port—by some, not all—for lesbian and 16. Princeton University Library Finding Aids: ACLU often bitter rivalry between Socialists gay rights, for environmental regulation, Records: Subgroup 1, The Roger Baldwin Years, at http://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/ and Communists after the Bolshevik and for “” recalls the MC001.01#description. Revolution, and the notion of the SP as movements of the 1960s and early 1970s. 17. Nash, American Odyssey, 424-25. a political party became more abstract Perhaps the Sanders candidacy fits into 18. Donald Bruce Johnson, ed., National Party Platforms, vol. I: 1840–1956 (Urbana: University from the 1960s on as it increasingly sup- this framework; it certainly reveals that of Illinois Press, 1978), 331-333, 351-354. ported Democrats rather than running socialist ideas and personalities appeal 19. Jack Ross, The Socialist Party of America: A its own candidates for office. Even ter- to more Americans today than most Complete History (Lincoln, Neb.: Potomac Books, 2015), 341. minology can be confusing: “socialist” had expected. In order for students to 20. Appleby, American Journey, 731. refers to a person or policy aligned with analyze and evaluate the strengths and 21. Nash, American Odyssey, 465–66. the concept in general, while “Socialist” weaknesses of this renewed socialist 22. W.A. Swanberg, Norman Thomas: The Last Idealist refers to a member of a specific organiza- perspective, our textbooks and teaching (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1976), 158–60. 23. See, e.g., Paula Pfeffer, A. Philip Randolph, Pioneer tion. Moreover, most textbooks highlight must examine socialism’s prior influence of the (Baton Rouge: socialism’s original goal of ending capi- in the United States. Louisiana State University Press, 1990). Nash, American Odyssey, 543–46, covers Randolph talism through government (or social) extensively, but ignores his socialism. ownership of business. But socialists Notes 24. See, e.g., Garcia, Creating America, 418, and Ritchie, also struggle to improve workers’ lives 1. Joyce Appleby, Alan Brinkley, and James McPherson, American History, 672. The American Journey, Teacher’s Wraparound 25. See, e.g., Appleby, American Journey, 832-33. See within existing society, so they vigorously Edition (New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2000), also William Jones, “The Forgotten Radical History participate in labor unions, and often 606. of the March on Washington,” Dissent (Spring in movements to expand democracy 2. Bernie Sanders, “My Vision for Democratic 2013). Socialism in America,” (Nov. 19, 26. Ritchie, American History, 729–30; Danzer, The for women, racial minorities, and oth- 2015), available online. Americans, 888. ers. This dual nature of the movement 3. Ibid. 27. Werner Sombart, Why Is There No Socialism in 4. See, e.g., Gerald Danzer, J. Jorge Klor de Alva, Larry the United States?, trans. Patricia Hocking and C.T. requires a nuanced presentation; of the Krieger, et al., The Americans, Teacher’s Edition Husbands (White Plains, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1976 textbooks I surveyed, The Americans, (Evanston, Ill.: McDougal Littell, 2005), 452, 514, [1906]), 106, 5, 39. by Gerald Danzer and his co-authors, 536–37, 602–03. 28. John Laslett and Seymour Martin Lipset, eds., 33 5. Gary Nash, American Odyssey: The 20th Century Failure of a Dream? Essays in the History of best captures it. This nuance is also and Beyond, Teacher Wraparound Edition (New American Socialism (Berkeley: University of important in evaluating Bernie Sanders’s York: McGraw-Hill/Glencoe, 2005), 276–77, California Press, 1984). platform to reform rather than overthrow 318–19. 29. Sombart, Why Is There No Socialism in the United 6. Jesus Garcia, Donna Ogle, C. Frederick Risinger, States?, 119. capitalism. and Joyce Stevos, Creating America: A History of 30. See, e.g., Nash, American Odyssey, T2. Socialism’s influence in the United the United States, 1877 to the 21st Century 31. Robert Shaffer, “Public Employee Unionism: A States was strongest from roughly 1900 (Evanston, Ill.: McDougal Littell, 2005), 244–46. Neglected Social Movement of the 1960s,” History 7. Donald Ritchie, American History: The Modern Teacher 44 (Aug. 2011): 489-508. to 1916, during the 1930s, and in the late Era Since 1865, Teacher’s Wraparound Edition 32. James Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me (New 1960s. The first period was one of great (New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2001), 164, York: New Press, 1995), chap. 7; Valerie Strauss, 352–56, 413, 530–33. income and wealth inequality. The sec- “Proposed Texas Textbooks are Inaccurate, Biased, 8. Studs Terkel, Hard Times (New York: Pantheon, and Politicized,” (Sept. 12, ond was the decade of economic depres- 1970), 19–21; , “Tribute to Yip 2014). sion, and the third period was marked Harburg,” Democracy Now, Dec. 25, 2008. 33. Danzer, Americans, 454; see also Nash, American 9. “Norman Thomas” (editorial), The New York Odyssey, 286. by protests against racial inequality and Times (Dec. 20, 1968); James Duram, “Norman against a government that had lost its Thomas as Presidential Conscience,” Presidential Robert Shaffer, a former social studies teacher Studies Quarterly 20 (Summer 1990): 581–89. credibility because of the War. in , N.Y., is professor of history at Shippens- 10. “The Stakes in the Election” (editorial), Christian burg University in Pennsylvania, where he also teaches In each case, there was also a broader Century (Oct. 26, 1932): 1295. social studies education. group of people who were not commit- 11. Ritchie, American History, 397. Even here, the

January/February 2016 35